Wives and Daughters
by poppyrain
Summary: What would have happened if Jane Bennet had married that young gentleman that sent her poetry when she was fifteen? How will Elizabeth react to the gentlemen at Netherfield if she has another example of marriage right in front of her?
1. Chapter 1

Late evening sun was shining trough the broad windows behind the heavy oak desk, tinting the long rows of old leathern books golden. A slight breeze played cheerfully with the fresh white curtains. A rather round cat was sitting lazily on a pile of papers, stretching her paws in the warm light while her master was buried deep in his favorite arm chair, fully engrossed in his dearest copy of Platon's work.

This picture of serenity was disturbed, when the door flew open and in came a woman, painting heavily: „Oh Mr. Bennet! You must write to Lizzy at once and order her to come home tomorrow." She almost fell into one of the many unoccupied arm chairs.

„And why would I do that, Mrs. Bennet? Just yesterday you were telling me how important it was that she stays in London. Have you by some great mystery reawaken your motherly feelings and started to miss our second daughter?", Mr. Bennet had some difficulty tearing his eyes - and mind - away from Platon.

„Do not be silly, Mr. Bennet. You very well know I always miss our daughters, when they are away from home. Just yesterday I was talking to Lady Lucas, who of course does not know the feeling at all - with poor Charlotte still at home! And I fear she will never know. Charlotte is really so plain, the poor dear. And Maria seems to be coming after her…"

„Please spare me the trouble of pretending to care about our neighbors, Mrs. Bennet. What is it, that you wanted Lizzy to come home for?", Mr. Bennet interrupted his wife knowing too well that if he did not, she would go on for hours.

„Oh. Yes, of course. So I was just hearing from Mrs. Long that Netherfield Park has been led at last. His name is Bingley, he is a single gentleman with six thousand pounds a year. He does not have any family here, they come from a nasty sounding town in the north I think. What was it called again, I must remember…", Mrs. Bennet was now fawning herself with her colorful embroidered handkerchief.

„The family comes from Scarborough, Mrs. Bennet. Not very nasty, if I remember correctly. And I am scared I have to disappoint you, Mr. Bingley only seems to have about five thousand pounds.", Mr. Bennet smirked at his wife and returned his eyes to his book.

„However do you come to know such information about Mr. Bingley?"

„Maybe I have had the pleasure of speaking with Sir William while you conversed with his lovely wife?"

„Oh Mr. Bennet! Stop vexing me. I fully well know you do not care to spend any extra minute in Sir Williams company. And Lady Lucas lovely - now that is something I do not even have to address." In a swift notion Mrs. Bennet took the book from her husbands table and closed it loudly. „Now start telling me, who gave you this information on Mr. Bingley."

Mr. Bennet smiled slightly at his wife: „I got this information on Mr. Bingley from possibly the most reliable source. I went and visited the man this morning. Nice fellow, smiles a bit too much though, if you ask me. And then of course there is the disappointing reality of the missing one thousand pounds on his income…"

„Oh Mr. Bennet! How good you are! To have visited Mr. Bingley already! Lady Lucas will turn green with envy when I tell her. Oh I have to call on her first thing tomorrow morning. But well, now back to Lizzy. If you have met Mr. Bingley already I do not understand how you can be confused about letting her come home at all!"

„How would my meeting Mr. Bingley relate to Elizabeth?"

„She must marry him, of course! I am sure he will fall in love with her, if she is just here for the next assembly."

„Marry her? How do you get such an idea, Mrs. Bennet? Is it not enough to have one daughter married? I do not want to part wit another one so soon."

„So soon? You are thrice a grandfather already, Mr. Bennet. It would not be soon at all. And just look how happy Mrs. Harrison is! Settled in London in this fine house and with the darling children. And just think of the new carriage they have purchased!"

„If it is only the carriage that is tempting you, Mrs Bennet, I can be persuaded to look over the accounts again. Maybe there is a room for a little one, what do you think about a phaeton?"

„Do not distract me, Mr. Bennet. We will call Elizabeth home. You have done enough in the last years to thwart any opportunity for the girls to meet eligible men. One could mean you do not want any of them to marry at all!"

And with these words Mrs. Bennet grabbed some ink and paper from her husbands desk and left the room, leaving Mr. Bennet alone again. The room was back to his peaceful state of serenity the moment the door was shut. But now its calming atmosphere was no longer mirrored bis his owner. Mr. Bennet was mightily distraught.


	2. Chapter 2

Elizabeth woke up to a little chubby hand tugging vigorously on her sleepy arm. Her nephew was standing next to her bed, little feet peeking out bare under his long night gown, disheveled golden locks framing his rosy face.

„Good Morning, Laurie. Is it not too early for you to be up and about?", she groaned, pushing herself up against the headboard. A look to the tall clock next to the window revealed it to be only a little after six in the morning.

„I did not sleep since hours, Aunt Lizzy! Bitsy is a terrible crybaby! She hit her head on the side of her bed and has not stopped crying since then. But it does not even bleed. When I fell down in the park my knee was bleeding soo badly but I did not cry at all. Do you remember?", the little boy pulled up his nightgown a bit, showing his scraped knee proudly.

„I remember very well, Laurie. It was only the day before yesterday, dear. I may be older than you, but my memory has not gotten quite that bad yet.", his aunt laughed and stepped out of the bed. „Now you have been a very brave boy, Laurie. But when something hurts us it is also allowed to cry a little, don't you think?"

Putting a robe over her nightgown Elizabeth let her hand be grabbed by the boy and together they went to the nursery. The wide opened door gave away to a scene of chaos not unusual in the last weeks. Laurie must have pulled out half of his toys before venturing to get his aunt. The floor was scattered with building bricks and tin soldiers pricking their little silver swords against every uncovered foot that dared to come too close.

Laurie's mother was standing admits the chaos, holding her daughter close while trying to rock the cradle with one foot: The youngest resident of the imposing looking house in Berkeley Square had just woken up and was making his displeasure known quite vocally.

Elizabeth took one look at her older sister. She seemed almost as close to tears as her daughter was, when she heard the sound of the whining infant: „Come Jane, I will hold Bitsy while you see to Chip. He will calm down much faster with you than with me."

Chip's real name was Wellington Charles Harrison, named for the great war hero and his late grandfather, a name full of tradition and honor, as his father often liked to remark. But also a name much too big for such a little person, as his aunt had silently remarked when he was presented to her. Aunt Lizzy had christened him Chip without much hesitation. The name immediately got stuck with his older siblings and the servants - to his father's chagrin. His wife was careful to use little Chip's real name, but in situations such as this she would admit to liking the endearment much more.

„Chip has been fussy all night. I finally got him to sleep just two hours ago and now he will not settle down again, I am afraid.", Mrs. Harrison sighed. „And in just three hours I am supposed to meet with cook to see over the preparations for tonights dinner party. And I still have to rewrite the table cards, you know how peculiar Laurence is with such things."

Elizabeth sighed. Silently cursing her brother in-law for even having suggested the dinner party in the first place, she looked over to Laurie, who was just now trying to open his window and to little Bitsy who looked close to tears again.

„What do you think of going to the Park today, children? To let your poor Mama rest before her dinner guests come over."

„But we went to the park yesterday, Aunt Lizzy!"

„We went to the small park here yesterday, Laurie. What do you say about going to Hyde Park today?"

Little Laurie's eyes lit up the second he heard the suggestion. Hyde Park did not only mean walking almost half an hour trough exciting streets filled with carriages, horses and strange people, but also the opportunity to let his little boat sail on the lake and if he behaved good enough Aunt Lizzy would maybe let him ride one of the pony's for an hour.

„When can we leave? Now? Now?"

„Laurie, do let your Aunt get dressed first. And all of you must put some proper clothes on and eat a bit of breakfast. I cannot let you go out hungry.", Mrs. Harrison was smiling at her oldest son now and relieved Elizabeth saw her sisters furrowed brows become smooth again.

They left the house half past seven, a merry party of four: Laurie had let his Mama smooth his hair and even kept his little blue cap on, carrying his big new sailing ship with both arms. Bitsy looked like a vibrant little flower: She had insisted on wearing her pink dress and even convinced her aunt that they had to be twins today which let to Elizabeth donning her similarly colored spencer. Only little Chip was spared his sisters complicated thoughts on fashion. He was safely wrapped in his blankets and what matter of dress he wore will probably be forgotten rather too soon (it was a delicately embroidered children's dress with little nautical items in front though, if anyone was wondering).

While the children were speaking animatedly with each other and pointing out every exciting pebbled stone and busy street corner, eager paper boy and trampled down flower to their aunt, Elizabeth was lost in thought.

She was now staying almost seven weeks in London with her sister.  
In these seven weeks she had been to the opera once, once to a concert and never to the National Gallery. She would have very much liked to go there but her brother in-law had no patience for looking at pictures and her sister was too tired to go against her husband's decisions.

Instead they had visited a few dinner parties and to Elizabeth's mothers sorrow not a single ball, even though Elizabeth suspected that the General Harrison had more than five times been out dancing the night away.

The General excused himself from family dinners most time of the week, claiming to work long hours. The war office seemed to be very busy if he was to be believed, often even going so far to claim their leading officers to stay over the night.

„Aunt Lizzy! I want to feed the ducks!", Bitsy's voice brought Elizabeth's attention back to the children and away from thinking about their father.

They spent almost two hours feeding the ducks, admiring Laurie's boat and racing alongside the lake to catch up with it if it sailed to far away, sitting on a park bench and secretly observing the other walkers. This was a favorite activity of little Bitsy. She never grew tired of admiring some woman's dress or laughing over a funny hat or too screeching voice.

Her older brother on the other hand could not sit quietly for more than half an hour and Elizabeth was thankful that she had remembered to bring his kite along. It had started to be windy and with a bit of help Laurie was quick to happily run over the patch of grass opposite the bench his aunt and siblings were sitting on.

Happily that is, until he run straight into a tall gentleman and fell right on his back dropping his kite's string in the process.

—

Hey everyone! First of all thanks for the great feedback to the story so far - I was very excited to see how people already followed, favorited and reviewed the story so far. Keep it coming guys :) As one of you already pointed out my use of quotation marks is sadly quite wrong and I did not find a way to change it in this chapter also - please bear with me till I find out how to change my keyboard! I know nothing much happens in this chapter so stay tuned to find out who little Laurie ran into ;)


	3. Chapter 3

The man Laurie had run into was already standing again, when Elizabeth had reached them. He was brushing dirt from his waistcoat, an expensive one, as she at once recognized. Her brother in-law was used to buy similar ones, whenever he wanted to impress someone at work - or wherever else he went. When Elizabeth thought about it, he cared about impressing people quite a lot.

But where General Harrison was light and smiling, always in the mood to pay a compliment or talk of some nonsensical business while working his impressing charm, the stranger was dark and scowling, almost growling when he opened his mouth to speak and not charming at all: "Is it not your job to make sure he does not bother other walkers?"

"I am sorry, Sir. It was an unfortunate accident, but I suppose we can be happy none of you broke an ankle. Trousers can always be washed.", Elizabeth tried to smile at the gentleman. With Bitsy on her hip she had some struggle pulling Laurie up from the ground. In the carriage little Chip had started crying.

"You expect me to be happy I am not trampled to death on my morning walk?" He had finished brushing his waistcoat off and was now starting to violently clean his muddy boots with a fine white handkerchief.

"Well, yes. Would it not be far more soothing than being angry about such a small thing?", Elizabeth almost spitted. She took the kite from Laurie and tried putting it under the carriage. Chip was still crying and if they did not change Laurie's pants fast he would catch a cold. It was time to go home.

But before she could try turning around the carriage that had got stuck in the mud, they were approached by a familiar figure.

"Miss Bennet? Darcy? I did not realize you knew each other!", the man laughed good-naturedly. The buttons on his red coat were shining almost as bright as his eyes. Taking a look at the children he bowed down to Laurie: "Whatever happened to your trousers, young man?"

"Hello, Uncle Richard! I was flying my kite.", Laurie started to pull it out from under the carriage again. „Papa got it for me last week!", an endearing smile was bestowed on the red paper. „And then this man run into me so I fell down.", the young boy looked up angrily at the man, who had at last stopped working on his shoes and was staring back at him with a scowl.

"Well that was not exactly what happened, Colonel Fitzwilliam.", Elizabeth laughed. "But I assume the end result was the same. Laurie, say goodbye to Uncle Richard, will you? Please excuse us, Colonel. It is high time we returned home."

But the Colonel was having none of it: "Now you are fleeing faster from me than the damn french. Am I really that terrible, Miss Bennet? I come in peace.", he put up his hands in mock defence: "Let me do some very overdue introductions. This is my Cousin, Fitzwilliam Darcy from Derbyshire. Darcy, this is Miss Elizabeth Bennet, General Harrisons sister in-law. You remember the General? Tall fellow with sandy hair, looks almost like the little guy you crashed here."

Laurie beamed at being compared to his father. Elizabeth curtsied at the stranger, thinking that she had never met cousins less alike. Mister Darcy tipped his hat in a short gesture and not even looking at her, he turned to the Colonel: "I had not realized you knew the Lady, Fitzwilliam. But not all of us can wander around Hyde Park aimlessly, please excuse me." And with that he turned around and started walking in the direction he had come from.

The Colonel smiled apologetically at her: "I hope you are not offended, Miss Bennet. He does not realize how rude he appears to be. He is going through some rough times right now."

"My Mama say we must always mind our manners. Even when I feel like pulling Bitsy's hair I have to be nice.", Laurie chimed in and the Colonel got down at his level again: "Then you better listen to your Mama, Laurie. What do you think? If I give you some money, will you manage to run to get roasted almonds with Bitsy without pulling her hair?"

Nodding excitingly Laurie enclosed the silver coins with one hand and grabbed his sister's with the other. Running as fast as Bitsy's little legs allowed them, they went in the direction of the boy selling their favorite snack.

"You did not have to do that, Colonel."

"Oh, but I wanted to, Miss Bennet. It gives me the excuse of escorting all of you home.", he took the carriage from her and wheeled it easily through the muddy ground: „May I?"

"Of course.", she smiled and they started to walk next to each other, their shoulders brushing every few meters.

"I had not known you returned from the continent already, Colonel. Since when are you back?"

"We reached friendly soil a few fortnights ago, but I have only been in London since yesterday. I had not realized how much I missed it, before I laid eyes on it again.", he smiled at her and then abruptly looked down on little Chip in the carriage:"And I had not known you started working as a nursemaid, Miss Bennet. Whatever happened to that girl Mrs. Harrison had hired?"

„She sadly left us three weeks ago and we have not been able to get an adequate replacement. It seems nursemaids are in high demand.", Elizabeth sighed and hoping he would not probe any further continued: „But do not worry, we normally do not traps around the park alone like this. My sister sends one of the maids with us, but today they have too much work to do with preparing the dinner party." 

„Then your sister must be very grateful to you for keeping the little rascals out of the house, Miss Bennet. I think I saw the invitations to the dinner party between my piles of unanswered correspondence this morning."

„There is still time to accept it then, Colonel.", it was Elizabeth's turn to smile at him.

—

Wow! I was completely taken by surprise with how many of you responded to the last two chapters of my little story. So here it is, the long awaited third one ;) I hope I could solve some of your worries over the missing nursemaid and you wont hate me too much for the cliffhanger and revelations in this one :D as you might have noticed, I finally figured out how to do the quotation marks the right way - after some struggle my mac and I are friends again :) do review, follow and favorite - it totally makes my day and keeps me motivated to write :D I am already excited to see what you think of this chapter :)


	4. Chapter 4

"Did you not want to save the yellow dress for the ball on Saturday, Lizzy?", Mrs. Harrison walked into her sister's room and found her sitting in front of the dimly lit mirror, clad into the prettiest dress she had brought from Longbourne and playing with her hair.

"I thought I would take you up on your offer to try on the green silk instead, if it still stands, that is. Otherwise I will have to live through everyone seeing me in the same dress twice a week.", Elizabeth fastened the lock on her pearl necklace and turned around to her sister: "How do I look?"

"You look beautiful, Elizabeth. And of course the offer still stands. It is the least I can do after all the time you helped out with the children.", Mrs. Harrison sat down on the still made bed, sighing: "I suppose I really have to start looking for a new nursemaid."

Elizabeth sat down next to her older sister: "You know I can do the interviews for you, if you do not feel up to it. Or we can ask Aunt Gardiner to find someone. I am sure she would love to help."

"No, Elizabeth. Please do not say something to our aunt either. It does not do to bother her with such a trifle little thing. It is entirely my matter to deal with.", she stood up, straightening her perfectly ironed gown with a jittery hand.

"I just wish you would let us help you, Jane. You know how much all of us care for you and the children. Aunt Gardiner, Mary, Kitty, Lydia, me - we would do anything if you would just let us.",

"I know Lizzy and I thank god daily for giving me all of you. But you do worry too much about me. I am quite happy as I am and a missing nursemaid will not take that happiness away from me. You know me better than that. You will give the girls at home the entirely wrong ideas."

"I do not need to give them any ideas anymore, Jane. One of them alone has enough ideas that it would last for the four of us. I really have to read Lydia's last letter to you tomorrow, she wrote quite funnily about some visit to the tenants she took with Mary.", Elizabeth changed the subject, knowing she should not try her sister too much. Not on an important evening as this.

"Do they get along any better?", Mrs. Harrison laughed, thankful for the different topic.

"Not really. Last Sunday they seem to have had quite a big fight. It seems our pastor based his last sermon on the Ephesians. Of course that led to many a debate on the way home from church. Kitty says they did not stop arguing till Monday morning. I was thankful to have not been there - I do not see how Mary can still stick to her ideas with Lydia around."

"Lydia has always been very persuasive. I still remember how she convinced us to walk to Oakham Mountain all on our own. She could not have been older than five than! Mama was so worried, she thought we had all been kidnapped."

"Mama was livid. But she could not stay mad at Lydia for long. She never can. Do you know she even helped Lydia persuade Papa to turn the old cottage into a school house?"

"Are you really talking about our Mama? Does she realize she is practically encouraging Lydia to work?", Mrs. Harrison gasped surprised as the two sisters made their way downstairs.

„I suppose she hopes Lydia will grow out of her ideals when she lives them out for a bit. She is still saying she will never marry. Papa is quite proud of her, if I may say so."

„Does she really? Poor Mama!"

Elizabeth did not get to answer this question, as her brother in-law stepped into the room, looking much younger than his forty years in his dashing regimentals.

"Good evening, ladies. Jane darling, you look even more beautiful than this morning, I did not think that to be even possible.", he smiled broadly at his wife and then turned to his sister in-law: "Of course you also look lovely, my dear sister. Yellow really does become you quite well."

He offered his arms to not only his wife but also Elizabeth and the three of them made their way into the grand hall, chattering about the children and the weather, the General's day at the war office, Jane's new arrangement for flowers in the dining room. It was a pleasant conversation, like it had always been between Jane and her husband.

Elizabeth thought back to her sisters at home. Kitty had compared the pair to a duck and a delicate water lily when she came back from a visit to them once. The comparison had not made much sense to Elizabeth back then, but now she understood it strangely well. Jane and the General lived together, like the water lily and the duck shared the same pond. But they never really were together, they could never be. A sad, crooked but somehow fitting comparison, so typically for Kitty.

The arrival of the guests yanked Elizabeth from her thoughts. She conversed pleasantly with the Harrison's neighbors and was just starting a conversation to one of the Generals colleagues at work when the Colonel finally walked through the door.

Elizabeth suddenly realized she had waited for him the whole evening, a thought that made her blush more than usual when she saw him smiling at her and walking over. She quickly pushed it into the back of her mind and managed to

"Good evening, Miss Bennet. I am happy to see you have recovered from your walk in the terrible weather earlier. How is young Master Laurie and his little siblings?", the Colonel was not wearing his regimentals anymore and Elizabeth, who had never seen him in regular clothes before, decides she quite liked the more relaxed look.

"They went to bed whispering stories of the bitter frenchmen you told them about, Colonel. Little Bitsy was quite adamant to have me promise to take them back to Hyde Park tomorrow."

"Is she as fond of nature as her aunt then?"

"I doubt that. I think she hopes to see you again, Colonel. I tried explaining to her that you will not be in the park every time we will venture out there, but she is not three yet, so I do not think she saw much reason to believe me.", Elizabeth laughed.

"Do not worry, I do not have it in me to disappoint such a lovely young lady as Miss Bitsy. Do you think you could get Mrs. Harrison to leave you one of the maids? I could pick you up at three, if you want."

"I am sure my sister will not mind. But before we plan an outing tomorrow I think it is high time you escort me to to dinner, Colonel Fitzwilliam." Elizabeth batted her eyelashes at him and gave him one of her prettiest smiles.

Lydia and Mary would be quite outraged with her, both for their own, entirely different reasons, so Elizabeth made mental note to just send a lengthy description of the dinner party to Kitty and then pushed any thoughts of her sisters back to her mind.

She was here now. The room was lit by candles, the table was decked, Jane was laughing about something one of her friends said and a charming gentleman was keeping her company. There was nowhere else Elizabeth wanted to be.

—

Hey! This chapter turned out much more somber than I intended it to be. But well, I hope you still enjoyed reading it! Are you already excited to meet the other Bennet sisters? I always thought of exploring more of a sisterly bond between them and this story is giving me the perfect opportunity to do so :D I am already excited what you think of the new revelations so please continue reviewing!


	5. Chapter 5

Elizabeth silently thanked her sister for sitting her next to the colonel and close to Mrs. Louisa Hurst, one of the only woman she truly felt comfortable with in this kind of company.

"Miss Elizabeth, how fortunate it is to see you again! I was just telling Mister Hurst how much I was hoping to see you in attendance this evening!", she exclaimed after the soup had been served. Mrs. Hurst was a very expressive creature, from the way she dressed down to the purple shoes and up to the green feathers in her hair and the way she talked, exclamation points falling here and there.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, Louisa?", Elizabeth smiled. Knowing her friend there would be some sort of bait in her words and tonight she felt more than willing to take it and be entrapped into some sort of delicious gossip.

"My brother, the one that spends all his time in Scarborough, has finally decided to leave that dreadful town and settle down! He has taken lease on a charming estate in Hertfordshire, Mr. Hurst recommended it for him. It is so close I can even travel there in half a day from London!"

"Then I am very happy for you and congratulate your brother on the new lease. But how can I help you with it? I am afraid to inform you I know next to nothing about taking a lease."

"Do not be silly! Charlie has a friend with him, valuable fellow. Very sensible, he will teach him all there is to know. I was thinking that you might know the place, it is in Hertfordshire after all!"

"If you would tell me the name of the property I would certainly be able to tell you.", Elizabeth laughed.

"Oh, yes of course! Silly me, to forget that. It is called Netherfield.", Mrs. Hurst looked at her in triumph, happy that she had remembered the name. Names were not her strongest suit.

"Are you sure? What a coincidence! Netherfield is just three miles from Longbourn, my father's estate!", now it was Elizabeth's point to exclaim in surprise. Netherfield Park had been empty for almost three years now and her father had often remarked that it would never get occupied again if it stayed empty and forgotten for much longer.

"What a great coincidence! Then I can visit you and all of the darling sisters you always talk about! Oh and we can spent all our summers together with you and Jane and the sweet children!", Mrs. Hurst was clapping her hands excitedly, bringing Colonel Fitzwilliams attention to the conversation.

"What has caused this celebration, Ladies?", he asked, brushing his hand against Elizabeth's when he leaned over a slight bit, looking at Mrs. Hurst.

Elizabeth made sure not to look down at their hands when she spoke, but she did not move hers also:" We just found out that Mrs. Hurst's brother has leased an estate very close to Longbourn, where my family lives."

"An estate in Hertforshire, Mrs. Hurst? Was your maiden name Bingley?", the colonel asked and both of the Ladies looked at him in some confusion.

"Why yes, it was. Do you by any chance know my brother Charles, Colonel Fitzwilliam?"

"We met several times through my cousin Darcy. I understood that Darcy had went to help Bingley with his estate, but I had no idea it was situated in Hertfordshire. The world really is a small place, it seems."

While Mrs. Hurst was now excited enough to talk so loud even Jane on the other end of the table could share in her joy about the new connection, Elizabeth quietly weighed the matter in her mind.

If Louisa's brother was friends with the rude Mister Darcy she had met in Hyde Park earlier and even went as far as to invite him to help with his new estate, meeting the new neighbors suddenly did not look promising at all anymore.

—

The morning after the dinner party was spent leisurely. The General and Jane slept late, a habit they both shared after long nights of being in company, and one of the maids took care of the children, giving Elizabeth time to continue reading the novel she had brought from home and never had the chance to read and writing a letter to her sisters at home.

There had not been any letters from Longbourn in over a week now. While this did not gave any reason to be truly concerned, she still wondered about it, as there normally always was someone that felt the need to grab ink and paper and write to London. Either way it was Mama, wanting to share some advise on dresses and flirting, Papa suggesting a new book to read, Kitty sharing a new sketch with her, Lydia ranting about someone in the village and requesting books for her school or Mary, talking about music and asking about the children. 

Writing home and describing yesterdays evening as detailed as she could made up most of Lizzy's time and before she knew it the time had come to get dressed for the colonel's visit. With Jane and one of the maid's help, they managed to not only pin up Elizabeth's hair but also to get Bitsy and Laurie dressed. Little Chip was decided to stay home with his Mama, the weather had gotten a bit colder, an excuse Jane gladly used to give her sister some more relaxed time.

When the colonel arrived, the party readily set out, the children running in front with the maid. As opposed to the adults, they had gotten enough sleep at night and were eager to run some of their energy off.

Elizabeth and Colonel Fitzwilliam followed at a more leisurely path and after exchanging the necessary polite remarks about the dinner party yesterday and tonight's weather, they fell in silence, broken by the colonel when they had left the busy street and had stepped inside the park: "I have gotten about two month more leave, before returning to the continent, Miss Bennet."

"I am surprised our troops can take out the french for so long without you, Colonel. What are you planning to do with your newfound freedom?"

"I was thinking about visiting our estate for a few weeks. My brother wrote me just yesterday that I should come home and visit my newest niece. I became an uncle for the fourth time a fortnight ago.", a proud smile lit up the colonels face.

As Elizabeth congratulated him on this good fortune and asked about the baby and its mother she could not help but feel a bit disappointed that it meant she would loose his newfound company so fast again.

"But I do not want to burden my brother's wife with a visitor more than three or four weeks. I was thinking of writing to my cousin and Bingley, asking them if I could join them at Netherfield for the last weeks in England."

"I am sure they would be happy for your company, Colonel.", Elizabeth smiled at him.

"Oh I know they would be. Darcy was practically begging me to come with him.", the Colonel laughed, clearly remembering a funny memory with his cousin. That one could have funny moments with Mister Darcy was beyond Elizabeth's imagination, but she decided to let the matter rest. There was no point in discussing the Colonel's relations, especially not the unpleasant ones.

"Then there is nothing to think about. They will be pleased about your plans."

"It is not their opinion I am worried about, Miss Elizabeth. Will you be happy to see me in Hertfordshire?"

It was an innocent enough question. She could have laughed, patted him on the arm and ensured him that the whole neighborhood would be happy to have him, herself included. But when Elizabeth looked into the Colonel's eyes, she suddenly felt like joking would not do justice to his question.

"I would be very happy to see you in Hertfordshire.", she simply said and smiled almost shyly at him.

"Then I will surely come, Elizabeth.", he quickly squeezed her hand and she did not mind at all that he seemed to have gone from Miss Bennet to Miss Elizabeth to just her given name in less than half an hour.

They continued their walk for almost two more hours, enough time for the couple to talk about the weather, the opera, the benefit of Shakespeare's comedies over his drama and vice versa and for the children to run off all energy.

When they returned to Berkeley Square, Colonel Fitzwilliam had to decline Mrs. Harrison's offer for tea but promised to call at them again before he left for his brother's.

—

One week later the Colonel had left (not after the promised visit of course) and Elizabeth was trying to decide how much she really missed him, when her sister stepped into her room, carrying three letters with her.

"It seems they have at least caught up with the letters, Lizzy. It seems that both Mama and Papa wrote to you and there is a rather thick one that seems to be from Kitty.", Mrs. Harrison put the letters on the table, not wanting to open the letters herself but waiting to hear what they said nonetheless.

Elizabeth quickly the thin envelope addressed in her mother's frantic handwriting. It seemed to have been written about ten days ago.

 _Dear Lizzy!_

 _I hope you, Jane and her darling family are all well! I was just telling to Lady Lucas how happy I was to be a grandmother for the third time (even though your father says I do not look like one at all, the old charmer) and she was quite jealous of me. I do feel quite sorry for her with poor Charlotte being so plain, but then she would look much better if her mother would just invest some more time in making her loose the weight she should have loosed as a girl already! But I am getting carried away! I am writing to tell you to come home as soon as possible! It seems that Netherfield Park has been led at last. His name is Bingley and he is a single gentleman of good fortune and most importantly he is coming to the next assembly! You simply must be here to dance with him, as I could not bare for plain Charlotte Lucas to snatch him away from you. Tell Jane to kiss the children from me and do remember to bring me two yards of that pretty pink muslin._

 _Your Mama_

Reading the letter aloud, Elizabeth could not help to feel happy, that it had arrived too late for her to make it to the assembly. The next one was from her father, written about three days after her mother's.

 _Dear Elizabeth,_

 _I assume you are enjoying your time in London with the Harrison's. Your mother pressured me into writing this letter to you, as she assumes that you have either way ignored her latest letter or it has gone lost. I tried to tell her that me writing another one would not help in either circumstance. If you want to ignore your mother's wishes of a speedy homecoming you will quite likely also ignore mine and if her letter has gone lost mine will face the same fate as well. But, you know your mother and she did not rest easily until I had taken to paper and ink. Rest assured when you read this, that there is no pressing reason to hurry home but that all of us (and not only your mother but also your sisters and myself) would be very happy to have you home rather sooner than later._

 _Your slightly tired Papa_

Both Elizabeth and her sister smiled slightly at their father's words, but neither of them wanting to comment on it, they opened the last and thickest letter. From its date, it seemed to have been written just yesterday.

Dear Lizzy,  
I hope you and Jane and the children are all well and you are still enjoying your time in London? Mama is by now convinced that there must be some fool play involved with the delivery system of letters to the capital, but I am sure there must have been some misunderstanding with the directions. Either way you missed the assembly and I just hope you had an entertaining evening to make up for it as you will be quite jealous to have missed it otherwise! We had more fun than in ages! As our Mama was hoping, Mister Bingley (the gentleman that has rented out Netherfield) attended the evening and as my sisters and I hoped he was both charming and quite good looking. I am sure Lydia could write you more about his opinion on the illiteracy of village children and current politics as she had quite a long conversation with him, but she is busy pacing and planning his revenge on his friend and does not want to sit down and write. Because I have to admit that last evening was only party funny and entertaining, well only the time I spent dancing with Mister Bingley and Mister Lucas truly was. Everything else was quite a mess. You see, Mister Bingley brought a friend with him. One Mister Darry, Darcy or Darby or something other. At first we thought him quite handsome but he proceeded to be one of the ugliest man in my circle of acquaintances! While Mister Bingley was dancing and conversing happily the whole evening, Mister D was just standing at one of the walls, scowling at everyone and only talking to Mister Bingley's sister Miss Bingley (who really should not wear orange, but that is a topic for an entirely different letter, just dedicated to her choice of headwear). When Mister Bingley came and tried to get Mister D to dance, he proposed him asking Mary, who did not have a partner at that time. What he answered to that I do not even feel fit to write down, but I guess it is not to be helped. He told Mister Bingley that "he would certainly not dance with any country bumpkin at this terrible assembly and especially not with a strange young lady so plain that not even the village boys knowing her all their live would dance with her." Oh Lizzy, isn't it a terrible thing to say? I almost did not believe my ears, when I heard he had said them! And the ugliest part still comes, as it was Mary, who heard them spoken first. It seems she was sitting quite closer to them than they realized, behind one of these thin parasols Sir William has put up recently. The poor dear kept it in until the night was almost over and Mister Bingley and his party had left already. Now she is not coming out of her room, claiming a headache. Lydia is holding angry speeches about the evilness of men and I do not know what to do at all. I hate to ask you to shorten your trip but please come home, Lizzy. Mary needs all of us now to somehow built up her self esteem again. I am afraid she will never attend another assembly if we don't.  
Your sister,

Kitty

—

Hey everyone! Again I was amazed by all your reviews and the many followers this story has gotten over such a short time! This chapter has gotten much longer than the previous ones, but I am sure you don't mind :D I have gotten quite a few questions about the directions this story is taking. I know that many writers on here are setting pairings beforehand, but as i dislike this practice myself I decided against it. You just have to stay patient and continue reading to find out who Elizabeth ends up with ;) I hope I do not disappoint anyone with this decision and you all continue to read and review! What do you think of the Colonel and Kitty's letter? Are you excited for Elizabeth to return home? I am excited to hear what you think!


	6. Chapter 6

Mary Bennet looked in agony across the dinner table, where her sister Lydia was in an animated discussion with both Mister Bingley and the parson, Mister Brown. Meanwhile Mary herself had been seated between her Aunt Phillips and Maria Lucas, who were both entirely too much interested in lace as too hold Mary's attention for longer than five minutes.

If Elizabeth would have been home, she would surely have made sure to help Mama with the seating arrangements so that such an annoying thing would not have happened. But Elizabeth was not here. She was still in London and only to return next Friday, a fact Mama lamented each passing hour.

Looking up from her plate, Mary looked over at her sister Kitty, who was even more unlucky in her seating partners. But what would have made Mary too uncomfortable to even eat but a spoon of her soup seemed to bring out the best in her younger sister. Kitty was conversing confidently, making small remarks to Miss Bingley on her right and to Maria Lucas opposite from her. She even seemed to say a few words to Mister Darcy once in a while and if Mary had seen it correctly he even smiled at Kitty once.

Of course he smiled at her. Kitty was more lively and talkative than Mary. But most importantly she looked most like her sister Jane and as their Mama never failed to remind them, Jane had always been the prettiest girl. And as Mama also liked to tell them every chance she got, pretty girls like Jane and Kitty never had to sit out any dance.

And Mary could not even dislike them for it, as Jane had never been any competition for her having married when Mary was not even out in society and Kitty was as dear to her as any sister could be. And even if she would not have been loved so much by Mary to make all jealousy feel like betrayal, she never hold the attention of anyone Mary fancied anyways. Like now, when that horrid Mister Darcy was smiling again at her!

But no, Mary's interest lay elsewhere. This sadly did not mean that she trusted himself to look over at the token of her affection as he was still busy talking with Lydia, who did not seem to realize the great honor she was in and prattled on about her school in the village like she always did.

Oh, if only Elizabeth would return home. Than at least she would have someone to play duets with again and get her mind off of everything!

—

Several miles away, Elizabeth was in a similar predicament, even though the man in question did not seem to prefer her sister (or any other lady for that matter) to her. Colonel Fitzwilliam had called on her three times before leaving for his brothers estate and had been even more attentive and engaging than she remembered him from last year.

In fact he had been so attentive that Jane had even felt herself compelled to ask her, what she would answer if he were indeed to propose. As Elizabeth could not give her sister an answer, she was quite relieved that he took his leave from them without an actual proposal but with the promise to call on her when he was in Hertfordshire.

And she looked forward to that. She really did. But most importantly she looked forward to seeing her family again and while that was a perfectly reasonable thing for being away for several weeks, it also made her realize that she was in no way ready to enter in any commitment other than promising little Laurie to take him to the book shop before she went away or remembering to get her mother more lace.

The only thing worrying her about her fast approaching departure from London was Jane. Her sister had interviewed three young woman in the last week and while two of them were not really qualified to care for three little children at once, one had seemed like the perfect fit. But she was also young and pretty and Jane had not wanted to hire her, even after much encouraging from her younger sister. And while Elizabeth understood her sisters worry, she also understood the dire need of a nursemaid Jane was in. Especially now, that she had missed her courses the second time.

—

Friday came faster than Lydia had thought. School work always kept her busy but this week had been especially hard, as the mother of one of her favorite pupils, had fallen ill, which caused the child, a seven year old girl named Tammy Lester, to miss school for the second week already. 

After three days of Tammy's absence from lessons, Lydia had visited her with a big basket of apples and two fresh breads from Hill's pantry. She had found Tammy mother lying down with a fewer, her body thinned out so that her pregnant belly stuck out almost grotesk against her thin limps. Tammy herself had been sitting in a corner, reciting one of the poems she had learned in school in a faint whisper.

Lydia had not known what to do at first. She had seen her fair share of misery while building up the school, but never had it seemed so hopeless as it seemed in this dimly lit room and with Tammy and her mother.

Tammy, who had been named for her father Thomas who was away fighting on the continent, was her mother's only surviving child. She had hoped for a little sibling three times already but each pregnancy left her rather young mother weaker and the much awaited little sibling never stayed with them for long.

After consulting with her Mama, Lydia brought a good soup to the Lester's every morning and Mrs. Bennet herself went to visit with the sick mother and her daughter every afternoon, even going so far as to send one of the maids at night so someone would be there incase the baby started coming.

Like this they had faired fairly well till this friday, Mrs. Lester's condition not particularly improving but also not getting any worse and that was more than the parson Mister Brown had told her to pray for. But in the years she had worked with him at the school, he had given her much advice and most of it was not really useful, so she was not surprised by his newest failed words of wisdom.

Today had not had time to visit with Tammy and her mother as she was busy preparing everything for Elizabeth's homecoming in the afternoon. She had told Lydia to come home as soon as she finished teaching, but fearing that would not want to spare one of the maids later, she went to the little cottage first.

She was greeted by cries of agony before she even opened the door. Mrs. Lester, who had been mostly quiet and sleepy during her illness, was lying screaming. The linens Lydia had changed just yesterday had started to change color. The red stood out like a sore thumb in the otherwise beige environment. It almost felt like one of the paintings, Lydia's sister Kitty hid under her bed, she noted, before being brought back to the fact that this was real and really happening right now.

It was happening and Lydia had no idea what to do. Realizing that for all her talk about poverty and helping the poor, she had no true idea on how to go about this, she looked around the room. Tammy was crying in a corner looking frantically at her mother, having a big blanket wrapped around her.

It was dreadfully cold in the cottage. The fire had gone out so the first thing Lydia did was attempt to stir it again. It was more of a sorry attempt as she had never made a fire herself before, but after a few agonizing minutes she had a fire stirring.

Turning around to she took her bonnet of and wetted it into the cold bucket of water that was still standing next to her bed. One of Longbourn's maids must have brought it in yesterday. She would have to remember to thank them tonight.

„Don't worry, . I will bring the doctor to you. He will make you better again.", Lydia said to the crying woman, trying to make her voice stop trembling. If she run fast enough she would make it to town in less than ten minutes, she had run the way often enough as a girl.

Lydia tried to let go of the older woman's hand, but Mrs. Lester grasped her fingers tighter and would not let go.

„You have to let me go now, . I have to alert the doctor.", Lydia pleaded with the woman, who just looked at her with bloodshot eyes. Her voice trembled now and she made no effort to hide it anymore. Looking over at little Tammy, Lydia saw that the child seemed to be frozen in shock.

She needed to get out. If only the doctor would be here, everything would turn out. Strengthening her resolve to pull her hand from 's grip, Lydia stood up from the bedside.

When she returned with the Doctor she was out of breath and vomited twice before reaching the door. Inside, Mrs. Lester had died already.

—

Hello, my dear readers! I realize I have made you wait for this chapter longer than usual and I am sorry for that! I was not entirely sure if I should continue this story at all as life got in the way of most of my writing. I am not entirely happy with this chapter but felt it important to get it out before the start of a new week of work! :) I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend and are not too disappointed that we do not have any darcy in this chapter again. But do not worry, I have not forgotten about our favorite rude bachelor from derbyshire. Are you excited to have Lizzy at home again? Who wants to speculate on where Mary's affections are directed? What do you think of the somber note this chapter has ended on? I realize I have not written it as gracefully as I would have hoped it would be but as I do not have a beta, I rely on your criticism alone! :D


	7. Chapter 7

The journey home had been much more taxing than Elizabeth had expected.

First little Laurie had not wanted to let her go in London, his tearful goodbye causing both his mother and his aunt to become quite teary themselves. Not even before leaving the city the carriage had lost two pieces of luggage p and right before Meryton they had driven into a herd of sheep.

Thus, Elizabeth had arrived home almost two hours later than expected. Now, finally sitting in the yellow parlor among her family, Elizabeth at last came to rest - even though her ears did not.

Kitty and Mary were practicing a duet on the piano, her mother was explaining loudly what Lady Lucas had ordered at the dressmaker and her father was loudly crumpling the newspaper, almost as if to mourn that none of the ladies had been interested in hearing him read the latest news.

In all this trouble Elizabeth had not noticed her youngest sister's absence at first but when she did ask after her afterall, the innocent question brought up a shocked cry from their mother.

„Oh, where can that girl be already? I told her so many times that she should make haste today. I could not bear it when she is away when Mister Bingley comes for dinner!"

„Mister Bingley comes for dinner again? Why did you not tell me, Mama?", Kitty had abruptly stopped playing.

„Why, of course I told you, Catherine! I invited both him and a few others to come as he was just so eager to taste some of the pumpkins, when they are ready. I think his cook is just terrible, considering their pumpkins are still not ready now. One would think that his sister would be able to manage a household properly, but I think that Mister Bingley has lost at least five pounds since coming to Netherfield. The poor boy!"

„Do not worry, my dear wife. If you continue to invite him over to dinner I am sure he will gain them back in no time.", Mister Bennet laughed, smoothing his paper and standing up: „Now that the topic has leaped even further from the continental war, you will have to excuse me to the library."

„Mama, who else did you invite to dinner? I hope you did not invite Maria Lucas, she always makes such silly eyes at Mister Bingley, it is quite embarrassing to witness."

„Says the girl who talked to the nasty Mister Darcy about the benefit of crop rotation. You do not even know how to differentiate between rye and barley and kept on as if you had been out on the farms for ages. That was embarrassing!"

„I was just being polite. Just because he was rude to you does not mean I have to be rude to him too! And I do know more of crop rotation than you think, Mary!"

„I have never been rude to him! But not being rude does not equal almost swooning at everything he says.", Mary countered.

„You know that Kitty was doing nothing of that sort, Mary. Your sister was just keeping the gentleman from you and I do not think you should thank her for it like this. Kitty would never fancy someone that has been so terribly rude to you, Mary. She loves you way too much to be so disloyal.", Mrs. Bennet interrupted her daughters quarrel: „Now can one of you please tell me where Lydia went?"

„I think she wanted to check on and little Tammy. I am surprised she did not return home by now.", Mary answered, not looking at anyone.

„Maybe she has run into someone on her way back and has lost track off time.", Kitty offered, looking at Mary from the corner of her eyes.

„Oh god, my poor girl! I am sure she has run into Mister Brown again! The poor fellow does not seem to catch a hint. It is quite vexing indeed, as he would have made such a fine husband if she just had not been too pretty to settle on such an odious man.", sighed. „Now Kitty, will you please go up to the Lester's cottage and get your sister?"

Elizabeth was surprised to find both of her sisters wincing quiet noticeably at their mother's words.

„I will accompany Kitty, Mama. We can take the basket and can get some flowers for the dining table while out.", she offered and before their mother could decide if she wanted to protest that idea, both girls had gone upstairs to catch their bonnets.

—

„Thank God Mama sent us off to get Lydia!. I could not stand to be in the same room as Mary right now.", Kitty breathed an audible sigh of relief when they had brought some distance between them and the house.

„Why? Do not tell me Mary is right and you really fancy Mister Darcy, Kitty!"

„Why does everyone ask me that? I do not fancy Mister Darcy at all! Mister Bingley is much more charming, even though he has not even half of Mister Darcy's fortune.", Kitty giggled. „No. It is because of that parson. He has been quite persistent in his pursuit of Lydia. And of course she does not even take him seriously enough to consider him as anything more than the annoying man coming between her and what she thinks is best for the school."

„And what does Mary have to do with it? She seemed quite upset when Mama mentioned his name. More upset than one would be for a sister's unwanted suitor.", Elizabeth remarked, hoping that Kitty would not answer what she was expecting all along.

„Well yes of course. She is violently in love with the odious man. Even though I do not see what she likes about him. Sure he is nice enough and likes to talk about quite a lot but he is so bossy and the only topic he knows is the next sermon he is going to give. And he never admits when he is in the wrong. But poor Mary adores him. And he does not seem to notice her at all, so mesmerized is he by Lydia. Even though Lydia disagrees with him quite a lot."

Elizabeth did not have time to turn this new information over in her head or to respond to her sister, as they had arrived at the cottage, where a very tired looking Lydia came out of the door, on her hips a crying child under its weight she seemed to be almost falling over.

Behind her followed first the very resigned looking doctor, than Mister Brown, almost shouting.

„Miss Lydia! Even though I admire your christian charity, you should really let me take the child to her aunt. She will take care of her and you will not have to burden yourself with taking care of yet another poor soul."

„I will surly not let poor Tammy go to that terrible woman. She would not treat her any better than a servant. I will gladly take Tammy with me to Longbourn.", sighting her sisters, Lydia's eyes brightened up: „Now as you can see, my sisters have arrived and we will proceed to go home together from here on." 

„In my position of leading this parish, you should really let me decide what is best for the child and for you, my dear Miss Lydia. Her aunt will want to have her at home, the child can help her with the new twins."

„The child has a name, Mister Brown! Tammy will surely not go to her aunt and play nursemaid. As you so eloquently put it, she is a child and as such should not be put to work."

Even though Lydia's eyes shot fire and her voice was louder than ever, Elizabeth immediately recognized how tired her little sister was and how close to collapsing on the dirty ground, with or without the little girl that still clung to her.

„Good evening, Doctor, Mister Brown. We have come to fetch Lydia. Now, if you would be so nice to hand the bundle of clothe to my sister Catherine, Mister Brown? I believe little Tammy will need them. Lydia, come and let me hold her, you look exhausted.", taking over the situation was easier than Elizabeth had imagined. As all fighting parties where too tired to really go against her words, the girls were on their way back home soon enough and the parson's words became fainter with every step they took.

—

„Girls! Girls! Come down, the gentleman will be here any minute!", Mrs. Bennet shouted from downstairs. The sisters looked at each other. It was a blessing little Tammy was sleeping so soundly at last, otherwise she would have surely be woken up by their mother's loud voice.

They had set the little girl up in the nursery Jane's children used to vacate when they visited Hertfordshire. At first Mrs. Bennet had been against the idea, proposing to set Tammy up with the maids instead. But as Lydia had insisted, Mrs. Bennet had complied, as she could have never truly gone against the wishes of her youngest daughter.

Now Tammy was dressed in one of Lydia's old nightgowns and laying between clean linens Kitty had organized from . She had cried some more, but her exhaustion took over the grief she could not fully comprehend yet but still felt and she was sleeping deeply not half an hour after settling down.

—

Mary, who had been making herself rare as her sisters fussed about the little girl, was now sitting in the parlor in one of her prettiest dresses. She did not condone vanity and was rather upset at herself for having spent more than an hour looking at her image in the dimly lit mirror in the safety of her own room. But she could not have helped herself. Ever since her Mama had mentioned Mister Brown, he had taken over her thoughts.

It was true that he cared more for his sermons than for dancing. And that he was a terrible card player. He was not a good dinner guest, but he was all Mary admired in a man. He was pious and devoted, confident in his ability to lead his parishioners through the year with christian spirit and humility. He was not a dandy but still looked handsome in his black cloak.

But as a cruel as fate was, he was in love - not with Mary, but with her sister Lydia. Mary did not really know, what Mister Brown saw in Lydia. Yes, she was hard-working in the building of her school and Papa always said that Lydia looked most like Mama, who had been a great beauty in her youth. But still, Lydia was not the kind of woman Mary envisioned for a man like Mister Brown. She was way too headstrong and opinionated to be a preacher's wife, always wanting to shock society, to do what the opposite of what was expected of her and to be loud about it, to scream it out and let everyone know.

And worst of all, she did not care an ounce for Mister Brown. Mary was not even sure if Lydia at least respected the man, as she always went on complaining about his interference help with the school.

And now, she was also complaining about Mister Brown's very prudent idea to let little Tammy stay with her aunt. Mary wanted to make sure to tell him that she - even though she was alone with that opinion in her family - very much saw the sensibility in his plan and would try to help in whatever way she could. Maybe than he would finally see her.

Really her and not only Lydia's older boring sister, the only ugly duckling between the beautiful Bennet Sisters, as even strange Mister Darcy had pointed her out to be on their first meeting.

—

After all the tumult of the day, Lizzy found herself rather tired when the dinner guests finally arrived.

Smiling absently she greeted her neighbors, the family Lucas. Sir William had come with his wife and oldest daughter Charlotte, one of Elizabeth's oldest friends. Mister Brown had come with smug talks of what a help he had been to Lydia, Aunt and Uncle Phillips had come with warm hugs for their oldest niece remaining at home.

But it was the Netherfield party that yanked Elizabeth out of her tiredness, as Mister Bingley had not only brought his dreaded sister but also a familiar gentleman.

Mister Darcy did not look as unfriendly as he had looked back when she met him in London, but he also did not raise his lips enough to fully qualify for a smile and that alone was enough to make her remember the ugly frown he had worn when he run into poor little Laurie.

Such, she only greeted him with a small curtsy and was surprised, when he addressed her especially: „I did not know you were staying in Hertfordshire, Miss Bennet."

"I returned home just today, Mister Darcy.", she answered shortly. "How is the colonel? Did he reach his brother safely?", she bit her lip the moment she had voiced the question. Oh, why did she always have to say what was one her mind?

"Yes, he has. His brother was glad to have him home at last. Even though I understand that he plans to travel to Hertfordshire in just a few days already."

„Who is traveling to Hertfordshire?", had something like a sixth sense whenever it came to young gentleman visiting her home county and came over from the other end of the salon.

„My cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam.", Mister Darcy answered with a scowl and Elizabeth silently wondered if he had anything against his cousin's visit.

„Oh! Why did you not tell us, Lizzy? We have to invite him over as soon as he gets here! Oh, Mister Darcy, if I had just known you to be the cousin of the dear Colonel! You know he is such a dear friend of my sweet oldest daughter's husband, General Harrington. And he is also quite the admirer of dear Lizzy here! Oh, such a charming man!", Mrs. Bennet fluttered.

„Mrs. Bennet, I believe the maids are getting impatient to serve dinner. Will you allow me to escort you to the dining table?"

Elizabeth had never been so thankful for her father's sudden appearance and followed her parents to the dining room quickly, not looking back to Mister Darcy but feeling his eyes almost burning into her back.

—

When I started this story I would have never dreamed for it to get over a 100 reviews! A big thank you to all of you guys for continuing to stick with my lazy updating and motivating me again and again to continue writing! Classes have started again so I am quite busy most of the times but I wanted to make sure to upload this chapter before a short (and much needed!) holiday in the city! :D Hope you liked it :)


	8. Chapter 8

Dinner went by faster than Elizabeth expected. Maybe it was her tiredness, the constant chatting of her mother and aunt or the joy of seeing Kitty converse so happily with Mister Bingley (who seemed to be nothing like his friend) but before she knew it they had gone from dinner to coffee and from coffee to saying goodbye to their guests and going to bed rather tiredly.

Now she was laying in her own bed again, enjoying the familiar scent of the linens. In the room next to her she could hear Kitty and Lydia whispering and if she had stepped out in the hallway she would have heard Mary's light snoring or seen the light under her father's door. It was truly good to be home again.

—

The next few days went by without much thought. Elizabeth settled into being home again much easier than she had feared. She resumed practicing duets with Mary, helped Lydia out in school, discussed politics with her father, the village gossip with her mother and sat for a portrait that Kitty was doing of all of them to gift to Jane for Christmas.

Much of the Bennet girl's time was also spent with little Tammy. She was a delightful child and after almost three weeks of having her with them for the meals and in the afternoons, even Mrs. Bennet could not wish her away again. Of course Tammy was still in mourning for her mother, but they had all high hopes that she would recover from the loss in due time and without too many scars. And when the small girl sat in one of the big armchairs, one of the kittens in her lap and reading the newspaper aloud to all of them with an adorable air of importance, they had every reason to hope.

One on of these evenings the family was not only joined by the grudgingly welcomed Parson Brown but also by Elizabeth's dear friend, Charlotte Lucas.

Charlotte was the oldest daughter to the Bennet's longest neighbors, Sir William and his wife Lady Lucas. While Mrs. Bennet's observations about her lacking physical attributes were sadly true, Charlotte was also a very sensible and observant person.

"How are you, Eliza? I hope the cold has not stayed with you?", Charlotte greeted her friend when they sat down on the window seat together, a little bit away from the others.

"I heeded your advice and it went completely away. I am more fine than ever, my dear Charlotte. Especially now that you have come for a visit. We do not see each other nearly enough anymore. But I guess it cannot be helped in times like these.", Elizabeth sighed.

"One can only compliment you on taking the little girl in. Especially with Jane's family surely coming for the holidays it is no easy task."

"Oh, we just had to! And Lydia does most of the work. We only help her out whenever we can. She is even sleeping in the nursery now so that she can be with little Tammy whenever she wakes up. Mama was quite worried about it at first, but Lydia was very headstrong about it. And you know how Mama cannot say no to her little Lyddie. She has even started to remodel some dresses for Tammy now and I think she is secretly very happy to have a little girl at home again to spoil.", Elizabeth laughed, looking over at her mother.

"And Tammy seems to be a very docile child. Much different from my little brothers at home.", Charlotte laughed.

"Oh yes. With all our talk about wishing for a boy, I guess Mama and Papa would be quite hopeless what to do with a little chap. They are too used to us girls. Poor little Laurie always complains about the lack of tin soldiers when he comes visiting us."

"Have you ever talked to Lydia about the attentions Mister Brown pays her?", Charlotte suddenly asked. Elizabeth looked confused at her friend and then at the scene in the room. There was Lydia trying to teach Tammy to sew (a terrible idea considering how much she hated it herself) and Mister Brown, sitting on the chair next to them, seeming to hold a speech none of his two listeners where particularly interested in.

"Oh, he likes her quite a bit. But Lydia is much too young to marry. And even if she were older and more inclined to swoon over any gentleman paying her attention she would not fancy Mister Brown.", Elizabeth answered confidently.

"I know that, Eliza. But it does not seem that he does. Do you not think it would be better to let him know, so he can direct his attention elsewhere?", Charlotte tried not to look over to Mary too obviously, but her friend knew immediately where her thoughts were flying to.

"Yes, of course. But what else is Lydia supposed to do?", Elizabeth sighed, a little bit annoyed.

"Well, she could stop spending so much time with him, for a start."

"She hardly spends time with him. Only when she needs to, for the school. You can hardly expect her to stop cooperating with the parish for the school. She needs all the support she can get.", Elizabeth protested.

"Maybe your father should talk to Mister Brown. Tell him that Lydia is not ready for the marriage market. That he has three other daughters to marry off first."

Elizabeth laughed loudly at this suggestion: "Oh Charlotte! I do not think it would be wise to draw my father's attention to the matter. He would be too agitated by even the thought of Lydia marrying. You know how he is. And surely the situation is not too bad. Mister Brown will realize that Lydia is not the right girl for him all on his own eventually."

"If you say so. I just do not think he will take being rejected very lightly."

Before Elizabeth could ask her friend what she meant by that, she was distracted by her mother's loud cheering. Mrs. Bennet who had lounged quite comfortably on the sofa reading a letter by her oldest daughter, was now standing, clapping her hands enthusiastically: "Oh ! The Lord is so good to us! We are going to be grandparents for the fourth time this spring. Girls! Come here and read this! Laurie, Bitsy and Chip are getting another sibling."

And with this, all thought of Mister Brown was washed away from Elizabeths mind. Jane was going to have another baby.

—

Colonel Fitzwilliam came to Hertfordshire on the first Saturday in November and met the Bennet family the day after in church.

Mrs. Bennet was so delighted by finally meeting a worthy suitor for her Lizzy's hand, she immediately invited him and the entire Netherfield party to dinner the following Thursday, an invitation that did not not only delight the Colonel but also his host. How delighted Mister Darcy was can scarcely be said, as he had excused himself from services the second time in a row, as Mary dryly noted.

Elizabeth did not dare to admit to herself how much she hoped his indisposition would last till Thursday, but when Lydia remarked how delightful the company of the Colonel was in comparison to his Cousin's, she readily agreed.

—

Wednesday Elizabeth found that her morning walk almost automatically led her to the border Longbourn and Netherfield shared. But instead of running into Colonel Fitzwilliam, she only run into Mister Darcy.

He insisted on escorting her home but proceeded not to speak more than ten words the entire time.

Elizabeth desperately hoped that the strange gentleman would step in a puddle on the way home and resume to taking to bed with a cold the day after!

—

I can only apologize for the long time it has taken me to upload this new chapter. You must all have thought that I had quite forgotten this darling story of mine but rest assured - I haven't! Life just got in the way of writing these last weeks. But anyways - here is the new chapter, finally written down and published! I hope you all like it and continue to tell me what you think of this story :)


	9. Chapter 9

Mister Bingley had talked about hosting a ball since renting Netherfield Park and while both his sister and his friend had been against the idea at first he had finally taken the courage to settle on a date, not alone but with the help of Colonel Fitzwilliam, who was more than happy to get a chance to dance again.

And now that there date (the last Friday in November) was finally settled, there was nothing stopping Mister Bingley from delivering the invitations to a certain neighboring estate himself.

—

"See! See! There is a carriage coming up! Looks like Mister Bingley's!", little Tammy shouted from her favorite window seat.

"Why is he coming in a carriage? Can't he ride his horse anymore? It is not even snowing.", Lydia was sitting on the floor, papers scattered all around her and gesturing wildly with the scissor she was originally using to cut out delicate snow flakes for her classroom's christmas decoration.

"Just because you are angry Mister Brown wants you to spend more time with the children reading the bible and less climbing trees you do not have to be nasty about Mister Bingley, Lydia!", Kitty hissed while franticly trying to smooth her hair, hide all her mending work while searching for some pretty needle work to display.

"Lydia, darling, clean up the mess please. What will Mister Bingley think when he sees us like this?", Mrs. Bennet was quickly combing Tammy's hair into a neat braid. "Lizzy, dear, give me one of the ribbons. And then go and and ring Hill for some sandwiches."

"Oh yes, what will poor Mister Bingley think? Probably that we are real people, women that work just like men do. Women who are more than pretty needle work.", gathering her papers Lydia stood up quite forcefully. "Come Tammy, we will go and see if Hill gives us some of the banana bread. We do not need fancy visits from the Netherfield Party."

Hearing this Tammy gladly jumped up from her seat and taking Lydia's hand, she almost dragged her out of the room.

"Why do you always let her get away with things? We are getting visitors and she is hiding in the kitchen.", her pale complexion making a stark contrast against her dark green dress Mary almost looked sick against the soft yellow wall.

"Oh Mary. Be quiet! You do not care about Mister Bingley so why do you care if Lydia is in the kitchen with Tammy? Here, take this shawl, it will soften your complexion. And now be quiet girls, I can hear the carriage."

They were all sitting in perfect peace when the maid announced Mister Bingley and Colonel Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth tried very hard not to laugh when Mister Bingley remarked on the harmonious picture they all made while he sat down next to Kitty.

"Miss Bennet, my dear friend Bingley is always talking about the great view from Oakham Mountain but is too lazy to take me there. Would you brave the terrible cold and take a walk with me?", Colonel Fitzwilliam asked.

Elizabeth looked over to Mister Bingley and her sister. Kitty was blushing quite prettily while Mister Bingley was asking her animatedly about flower arrangements and musicians in the area.  
Mary was playing piano in the corner and her mother looked almost victorious while working on a new throw pillow.

"Mama, do you think you can spare me for the afternoon? Colonel Fitzwilliam has never seen the wonderful view from Oakham Mountain."

"Oh, then we have to change that, Lizzy dear! And the weather is just wonderful today, the sky is so blue that you will have a marvelous view! But go and take Lydia with you, she and Tammy need to get some fresh air."

Mrs. Bennet was right. The weather was truly perfect for a long walk. The air was crisp and clear and the sunshine warmed their faces, even though the ground was already hard and frozen. And Lydia and Tammy seemed to really need the air: They were already running in front of Elizabeth and the Colonel, laughing and shrieking like only girls could.

"I always thought Miss Lydia to be your youngest sister, Miss Bennet. How old is little Tammy?", the Colonel asked chuckling.

"She will turn eight in January. But you were right, Lydia truly is the youngest of us Bennet girls. We took Tammy about three month ago. Her poor mother died in childbed and her father is still fighting on the continent."

"That is truly remarkable of your family. Not many people would take a child in and treat it like one of their own. Do you have any idea where her father is stationed?"

"Our brother the General has information that leads us to think he is fighting in Spain. At least we know that his company had order to go there. But we do not know what has happened after that. If he is still fighting or if he fell in battle. But there is no use in worrying about that now. They are supposed to return in summer and we hope for the best."

"Isn't that what we always do? War is a terrible business but we have to do our best to defend our great country from that bloody frenchman."

"When are you returning to the continent, Colonel?", Elizabeth asked.

"In two weeks time. We will travel to France from London. My mother is disappointed that I am again not spending Christmas with the family but what can we do? The french are not waiting for us to celebrate with our families."

"Colonel Fitzwilliam! Would you come over here please? We need someone strong to lift Tammy up here so she can see the bird's nest and you look like you are up to the task!", Lydia shouted.

—

"Oh Catherine! I am so proud of you!", Mrs. Bennet shouted before the Bingley had even boarded his carriage.

"What did she do? Finally finished the work of our great latin masters?", Mister Bennet laughed. He had finally emerged from his hiding place in the library and was now munching on the sandwiches that were left from Mister Bingley's visit.

"Do not be silly, Mister Bennet. Of course she is not reading that boring book again, it is enough that Mary and Lizzy are always sticking their noses between the pages. And my darling Lydia with all her books in the school room. No, my dear Kitty has done something much better. Mister Bingley has asked her to dance both the first dance and the supper dance at his ball."

"Is that not something Mister Bingley did and not Kitty?"

"Oh Mister Bennet. Be quiet now. I will not let you ruin my triumph over Kitty and Mister Bingley! Mrs. Catherine Bingley! Mistress of Netherfield Park! Doesn't that sound just wonderful? Lady Lucas will get green from envy!"

"Mama! He only asked me to dance. He will dance with a lot of young ladies at the ball just as I will dance with a lot of different gentleman. Nobody is getting married.", Kitty protested and then smiled at her father: "Do not worry Papa, I am not planning any wedding, I am just planning to enjoy myself."

"And you will, my darling Catherine. But if he decides to propose during all that enjoyment, I could not fault him. Not if you look that beautiful. Come, we will go and see if we have something suitable for you to wear. I am thinking of that wonderful silk Jane send us from London."

"But Jane send that for Lizzy, Mama!"

"Oh Mary! Stop being silly! She send it for whomever would need it first. And as it is Kitty and not Lizzy who has captured Mister Bingley's attention, I am sure she will gladly give it to her. Now come Kitty, we have no time to waste."

—

Hey everyone! :) Yes, I have not completely abandoned this story, but I am so sorry to have made you wait so long for this new chapter! I was hoping to have it up before the new year and now  
january is already almost over :0 but what can i say, life was just way busier than expected. Anyways I hope you enjoyed this chapter, even if it was later (and shorter) than I hoped for.


	10. Chapter 10

It was hard to say which Bennet ladies had more hopes and anticipations for the last Friday in November.

Any superficial observer would have found Kitty the most excited one. Since Mister Bingley had come and asked for her hand for both the first and the supper set there was no other topic of conversation you could broach when talking to her. Her father teased her mercilessly for it and her sisters had quite a laugh at her expense when she would appear at the breakfast table totally oblivious to her unmade hair, but all in all it was an excitement the Bennet household bore with good humor and much amusement. After all, as Mrs. Bennet was often found to say, you were only seventeen and in love once.

Where Kitty was giddy and hopeful, Mary was gloomy. But in all her gloominess there was still hope to find, as Mister Brown was also planning on attending the ball and had stated his intention on dancing with all the Bennet Sisters. And while this made her happy, after all she was waiting on a chance to dance with the object of her silent affection since almost a year now, it also made her rather frightful. Because, even if none of her sisters would put so much heart and love in every dance step, they would put much more grace and elegance in them.

Lydia then did not think about one man in particular. She never did. But she thought about her school, and the possible funding she could acquire if she just got the chance to speak to Mister Bingley without Kitty interrupting her. Or with the always brooding Mister Darcy, after all he seemed to be quite the fat cat. But he also never appeared interested in Tammy, so he was maybe not the best candidate. She would have to ask the colonel. While he did not seem wealth himself, he seemed just the man to know enough people with enough money and heart.

Elizabeth's thoughts then also centered around the colonel. But not especially about his willingness to fund a new set of books for the school or the salary of a school miss. No. She thought about the fact that he would leave Netherfield just the day after the ball and would leave England just three days later. She had hoped to get some clarity on her feelings for him before he left but to no avail. While she loved talking to him, loved dancing with him and loved the endless stories he had to tell, she was not sure if she loved _him._

As an enumeration of the Longobourne Ladies could never be complete without mentioning their spirited mother, the dear reader is surely wondering how Mrs. Bennet thought about the ball and as she let everyone in a vicinity of twenty miles hear, Mrs. Bennet was more than excited. She was positively ecstatic and already planning what food to serve at Kitty's engagement party.

The only one not excited about the ball was Mister Bennet who had opted to stay at home to keep little Tammy company, who was much to young to attend a dinner party, let alone a ball.

—

They were fashionably late, at least that was what Mrs. Bennet claimed. In reality Lizzy had taken too long with her hair, Kitty could not find her shoe roses and Lydia had stolen away to read a book with Tammy.

Mary was the only one ready on time and as always it had not helped her one bit. Now, half an hour into being in Netherfield she was standing at the side of the room and watching her sisters dance. Alone.

Well, that was until Mister Brown made his way over to her. Mary's heart almost skipped a beat when she realized he was coming in her direction, smiling at her and even standing next to her.

"Is it not a marvelous evening, Miss Mary?"

"Mister Bingley proofs himself to be a very lavish host.", she answered and tried not to let her voice tremble.

"Oh yes. And the musicians he hired are quite proficient. Do you not find the dancing much superior to the ones we usually see at the assembly hall? I see your sister at the end of the line. Is she dancing with the Colonel?"

Mary looked over at the other end of the room. Mister Brown was right. There was Lydia, dancing with the Colonel. Oh, how she sometimes wished Lydia would have gotten her way and waited to join society!

—

"I must say, we are very sorry to see you go, Colonel. My sister has always spoken so highly of you and in the weeks that we have known each other, I must say that Elizabeth was not all wrong.", Lydia laughed. She had not expected to dance with the Colonel this early in the night, but he proofed to be much better partner than any of the Lucas boys had ever been.

"You flatter me, Miss Lydia. To be honest, I am also quite sorry to leave Hertfordshire. But what is a soldier to do? I have to return to fight that blasted Frenchman.", he answered with a kind smile and a sparkle in his eyes. "I hope you will tell all your little pupils about our surely upcoming victories. Some of the boys will make good soldiers when they are older." 

"While I very much admire your dedication to the army I shudder to think that any of my little ones having to fight. The Army treats nobody friendly, especially not poor country boys. No, let them go into trade or science. While that may not proof as exciting as a career far away from Mother England it may provide them much less dangerous life." 

"Well, we always need doctors to treat us and merchants to ship us new provisions. So I am not completely opposed to that idea. Which reminds me of one Thomas Lester. If I remember correctly you were trying to find out what happened to him.", Colonel Fitzwilliam suddenly said, his eyes now looking quite seriously.

"Oh yes, I am! Have you heard anything?", Lydia answered hurriedly.

"I am sorry to say that I have. He fell in battle almost five month ago already. I hope you were not too close."

"He fell in battle? Where? Why was his wife not informed?"

"I do not know, but these things can easily happen. War is a messy business." 

Lydia suddenly felt sick. Really sick. She had not known Thomas Lester, she did not know what man or father he had been. If he had played with his daughter or read bedtime stories to her. Maybe he had been a terrible man and father. But whatever he had been, he had been her last hope for Tammy.

—

Elizabeth was sure Jane would have enjoyed this ball immensely. Mister Bingley had opted for almost all the decorations her older sister preferred. Pastel colored flowers, candles everywhere. If it was not so unlikey, she would have sworn he had been to one of Jane's dinner parties. But maybe his sister Mrs. Hurst had told him about one of them.

When the Colonel came to fetch her for the supper set, she was nervous, but quickly started to fall into track while talking to him.

—

"You look like a ghost. Why did you just tell the Colonel that you are fine? Did he say anything inappropriate to you?", Mary whispered worriedly.

"Oh no, he did not. What are you thinking? He just told me that Thomas Lester has been killed in the war. Five months ago already!", Lydia sighed and nipped on her punch. It was definitely not spiked enough for this.

"Who is Thomas Lester?", Mary asked confused.

"Remember the little girl that has been living with us for six weeks now? Blonde hair, green eyes? Loves to read books about fairies and tries to play piano with you? We call her Tammy? Thomas Lester was her dad.", Lydia almost hissed.

"Oh. I am sorry. You never mentioned she had a father.", Mary mumbled.

"Of course she has a father. Everybody has a father! Now let us go and get some more punch really fast. I need it and that stupid parson is coming our way."

"That would be incredibly rude, Lydia. We have to stay here. He has already seen us.", Mary tried to make her voice sound commanding, but judging by the look Lydia gave her this did not work out very successfully.

But Mister Brown worked in her favor and had already reached them before Lydia had decided if she would take her older sister serious.

"Miss Lydia! I am surprised not to see you dance. Surprised and very glad, as this gives me the chance to dance the supper set with you. Let us hurry up, before the music starts.", he smiled almost broadly at Lydia.

"I am sorry to say that I am much too tired to dance, Mister Brown. But please, do not let this keep you from enjoying the set. My sister Mary will join you."

"Are you certain? I am sure your sister would like nothing better than staying with you when you do not feel well and keep you company. And I could bring you some refreshments."

"Oh, no. I will be fine and I would love to see you two dance. Go on, the music will start without you if you do not hurry."

And when Mary walked on the dance floor with Mister Brown she suddenly, for the first time in years, felt like she liked Lydia, not loved her out of some sisterly obligation, but truly liked her.

—

"Are you enjoying the night, Miss Catherine?", Mister Bingley asked with a broad smile. They had just sat down to eat and he still looked a bit flushed from the last dance.

"It is by far the most wonderful ball I have ever been at. The music, the flowers, the food, everything! We will talk about this night for years. And the dancing was just so fun. My feet will hurt for days!", Kitty laughed.

"Well, you are the most energetic dancer I have ever seen! How are you liking the soup? My sister advised me to spice it up a little bit, but I was not sure about it." 

After taking a spoon full of soup she answered: "Well this tastes delicious. But I am sure Mrs. Hurst's idea was also excellent. My sisters always talk very highly of her."

"Louisa loves to spend time with your sisters. And she especially loves to dote on your little nephews and niece. There is no letter where she does not mention the children. Always makes me quite envious that there are no little ones around here.  
But in fact it was not Louisa. It was my other sister, Caroline who suggested the change in refreshments."

While saying that Mister Bingley almost looked downtrodden, that he had not taken his sister's suggestion. Catherine looked around the room. Everyone seemed to enjoy their supper. She had to do something to get him out of that silly thought! 

"I did not know you had another sister. Is she also residing in London?"

"She is visiting my friend Edward's estate in Cornwall. We went to Cambridge together. He is a nice fellow. Caroline is friends with his sister, Lady Eleanor. She just wrote me last week that I should come and visit them."

"But you have just rented this place!", Kitty exclaimed in horror. "Do you not think you should better invite her to come here?"

"That is an excellent idea, Miss Catherine. I will write them both! Caroline and Louisa. They should come and take a look at Netherfield. I am sure they will love it just as much as I do."

As his smile had returned, she took that as a victory and finished her supper in high spirits, not stopping to smile until she fell into bed at home.

—

Elizabeth had been searching for Colonel Fitzwilliam all over the room. They would go home in just a few minutes and she had not said goodbye. They had danced only one dance together, in the middle of the night and had not talked anything afterwards.

There had been no reason to. She knew there was nothing to talk about. Nothing really as she had still not made up her mind and judging from the fast that he was practically leaving tonight he also had not made up his mind. Or he had.

But whatever it was. She had to at least say goodbye before he left for war.

Pushing open the doors to the balcony she stepped outside. The air was cold and there was a man standing outside. But it definitely was not the Colonel.

"Mister Darcy! Have you seen your cousin? I just wanted to say goodbye before we left."

"He went to his room. He has to get his sleep."

"Well then please tell him, tell him. Well, tell him I said goodbye. Good luck. No, no that sounds terrible. Just tell him that I looked for him. Or do not tell him anything.", Elizabeth stumbled around with her words. It was too embarrassing. 

Mister Darcy did not even seem to notice: "Miss Bennet. I will tell him you said goodbye. Do not worry.", he said while starring on an already crumbled up piece of paper. She could not read anything written on it, but it seemed to be a letter.

"Thank you Mister Darcy. That would be nice. I will go now.", Elizabeth turned around, ready to go back in when she heard the paper crumbling.

"Mister Darcy? Is everything alright? Can I get you anything?", she asked him, not sure why she even bothered. It was Mister Darcy after all. Why would he not be fine? He went around making everyone else uncomfortable. He had nothing to fear.

"I am alright Miss Bennet. Thank you for asking.", he answered and it almost seemed like he tried to smile at her.

"Well then I will go now. I am sure my sisters are already looking for me."

"I have a sister too. Her name is Georgiana. She stays in London, she is, well I am not even sure what she is.", Mister Darcy suddenly said, his voice breaking with every word.

"Is she fine?", Elizabeth asked worriedly.

"No, she is not. Her doctor told her to go on bedrest. She writes it is not serious.", he was shaking his head now, laughing. Almost like a madman. 

"So I am sure you have nothing to worry about.", Elizabeth tried to smile reassuringly at him.

"I have everything to worry about. She is just fifteen, Miss Bennet. Just fifteen. She will have this baby in three month and she has to stay in bed and there is nothing I can do to help her. Nothing she will let me do."

And suddenly Mister Darcy was crying.

—

My lovely readers! Seems like I will be ending every chapter in this story with an apology. So I am not going to dwell on that and just be happy that I got this new chapter out. And I hope you are too :-) I am not sure about the beginning and the end of this chapter, but I felt it necessary. Firstly for patching up where we left and lastly for giving you some more ideas for where this is going in the future. I hope you do not feel annoyed by the many different storylines, I wanted to showcase how everyone of our dear bennet girls are coming along. But please tell me if it gets too confusing, then I will try cutting it a bit :-D Anyways I hope you enjoyed this and I look forward to your reviews!


	11. Chapter 11

Before Elizabeth could even think on what to do, she heard her mother shouting for her to come, so she just did the first thing that seemed logical when someone was crying: She gave Mister Darcy her handkerchief and then promptly fled the balcony.

—

"I heard Mister Bingley has invited his sisters to come to Netherfield? If that is not a sign he plans on proposing to Kitty, I do not know what is.", Charlotte said without looking up from her needlework.

"How can you be so sure about that Charlotte? Maybe the poor man just wants to spend christmas with his family? Most of us do.", Elizabeth laughed.

The two women were sitting together in the little salon at Lucas Lodge, working on christmas gifts. Two weeks after the Netherfield ball it was maybe the first time the friends had the chance to talk without their mothers and seemingly endless number of siblings interrupting.

"Of course. But do you not find it telling that he only thought about inviting them after Kitty suggested it? I am telling you: He will ask for her hand before the year is out.", said Charlotte with a resolute smile.

"You have clearly spend too much time with our mothers. Mama is already planning the flower arrangements for the wedding. And Papa is hiding in his library, trying to find a reason to keep Kitty longer at home than just until her eighteenth birthday." 

"When is her birthday again? March or April?"

"Yes. The first week of March. Lydia is our April baby. Papa always jokes that he expected the arrival of a fifth girl to be an April's Fools joke and was quite disappointed when she didn't turn out to be a boy on the next morning.", she said with a chuckle. It was an ongoing joke between the Bennet family, maybe the only joke on Lydia that Mama would allow their father to make.

"That would leave them about three month of engagement. That is not too ridiculous.", always quick to go back to heir initial topic of conversation.

Elizabeth looked at her friend. She would have liked to tell her that she hoped Kitty would not marry. Not marry while she was this young and easy to influence. Or tell her how she was still wondering about the strange encounter with Mister Darcy at the ball.

She had not seen the gentleman since the ball. And while most parts of her were glad about that, there was also the part that wondered how he was, if he was still distraught. And what exactly had happened to the sister he had cried about. And why nobody, not even Colonel Fitzwilliam had ever mentioned her.

But even if she wanted to tell all that to her friend, something kept her from it. It was not the same between them, not since that one day many years ago, when she had mentioned some of Jane's struggles to her friend and Charlotte had simply shrugged. Just shrugged and told her that was how life worked.

—

Lydia was sitting in the school house, grading papers. It was terribly cold, but she did not want to start the fire again. The children were just gone and it would be making no sense to waste precious fire wood just for the few hours she was spending here.

She had postponed reading the essays her students had written for almost two weeks now and the children were getting impatient to get them back. But she had other things to do. Trying to fend her Mama off, when she suggested to hire a real school teacher for example. And trying to find out more about where Colonel Fitzwilliam's unit was stationed. And worrying how Tammy would feel when all of Jane's children came to visit in a week.

A sound at the door startled her out of these deep thoughts and turning around she saw the parson: „Good evening Mister Brown. I am just about to finish these papers. If you want to discuss the possible decision of hiring a teacher I will make up an appointment with my father and Sir William."

"Oh well. That would be good. But Miss Lydia, I have not come to discuss the school. I have come to talk to you.", he was standing up straight now, standing in front of her desk with an important look on his face, suddenly reminding her of her students. Only that they never looked as smug while turning in their homework.

"Then what can I help you with, Mister Brown?", she asked while starting to collect the essays. She would grade them at home if she did not even get her much needed peace and quiet time here.

"Well. Why don't we sit down?", it was a question, but somehow did not sound like one.

"Can't we discuss this on the way to Longbourne? My mother will be wondering where I am.", and before he could even act on that, she had grabbed her bag and coat and was out of the door.

—

Mary was on her way home after a much needed visit to the library when she saw them. Lydia's red coat could never be missed and the reverend's broad form was one she would always recognize.

He had offered Lydia his arm and they were walking fast. Maybe Lydia was dragging him around, she always did that. While Mary tried to decide if she should run up to them and show Mister Brown that at least one Bennet girl knew to treat the clergy with due respect, they had stopped and to Mary's great horror, Mister Brown, her Mister Brown, was suddenly kneeling in front of Lydia.

—

"Please get up, Sir. There is no need to be overly dramatical about this.", Lydia's look rivaled her sister Mary's in shock and consternation.

"While I normally admire your blunt choice of words, this is not the moment for a woman to interrupt. Miss Lydia, let us be serious for a moment. You know how much I admire you, how much I love you. The work we have done together in these last months have showed me that you are not only a beautiful young woman but also one not shy to work and help the less fortunate. Putting my personal feelings aside, that alone would make you the perfect wife for a man in my position. As a man in the clergy, I always feel called to -"

"Mister Brown! Sir! Even if you do not think so, I find that I must interrupt you here and now. Please get up! I am serious. You do not know what you are talking about.", Pulling her hand away from him, Lydia clutched it around her bag.

"I know exactly what I am talking about. I want to marry you. You do not need to be coy about this. I know you are still young, but I would be willing to have a long engagement and wait for your sixteenth birthday."

"There is no need for that, as I do not want to marry you. Not now and not when I am sixteen. Let us just forget that this conversation ever happened."

"Miss Lydia, we both know that I am not going to forget this. I want to marry you and I am sure that you want to be my wife. You just have not realized it yet. Let us go to Longbourne, when I talk to your father, I am sure we will come to an understanding."

He was standing up now, something she had wished for him to do just a few minutes back but now looked at in horror: "Mister Brown. I am not going to marry you and you definitely will not talk to my father about any of this."

"Do not be ridiculous. I have to talk with your father.", and he was taking a step closer to her now and even if he was barely taller than her, she felt threatened by his proximity. He was too close. Taking another step back, she suddenly fervently wished that somebody would be here. It would not matter who, but somebody to help her out of this mess.

But nobody was.

—

Mary felt like she was frozen to the ground. She saw the whole scene unfold in front of her. Mister Brown, her Mister Brown, still kneeling in front of Lydia. She could not understand what they were saying, but heard Lydia's voice getting louder. She saw him standing up and folded her hands in agony.

Lydia would not say yes, she never would. But what if she did? Mary was sure she would rather die than attending the wedding of the love of her life to her little sister. Folding her hands and looking up at the grey sky she started to pray.

She did not know how long she was standing there. Could have been two minutes or twenty, however much it was, when she looked down again, all she saw was a blurred figure in red, running away from her and most importantly away from Mister Brown.

—

Thank you so much for all your kind reviews! They really motivated me to get this new chapter out that quickly!


	12. Chapter 12

Mrs. Harrison and her children arrived a week before Christmas, the General came just in time for midnight mass. However much the Bennet girl's cheerfulness was hampered through his arrival, they quickly got distracted again by playing with the children and eating endless amounts of Christmas cookies. 

Only Kitty was quite displeased, as she had not seen anything from the inhabitants of Netherfield (and especially Mister Bingley) since almost ten days. But even her mood was quickly lifted again, as her father received a missive from the neighboring estate.

—

"Mister Bennet! If you do not plan on reading that letter aloud you could at least hurry up a bit and pass it to me.", Mrs. Bennet complained and reached across the breakfast table. Grabbing the letter from her husband and scanning it quickly she exclaimed: "Oh, how wonderful! Mister Bingley is inviting us all to a small intimate dinner party on New Year's day! Small- well I guess that means Lady Lucas is not invited! She will get green of envy when I tell her! Oh Jane, you will just love what he has done with Netherfield! And he ist such a nice gentleman! And so taken with our dear Kitty!"

"He is inviting us? Who else will be there?", Kitty asked and the letter was passed to it's next reader. "He wants us to meet his sisters. One Miss Caroline Bingley and one Mrs. Louisa Hurst. Lizzy, Jane, isn't that your friend from London?"

"You remember correctly, Louisa lives just a few houses down the road from Jane. She is quite nice and bubbly, you will like her.", answered Elizabeth: "We should invite her home also, don't you think Jane?"

But Jane did not really answer, she just smiled tiredly at her sister. Elizabeth's worried question if Jane wanted to go lay down for while was drowned in the tumult that followed when little Laurie loudly demanded to read the letter for himself, Mary started banging a hymn on the pianoforte and Baby Chip started crying.

—

Mary did not anticipate the new year. The past one had been full of boredom and disappointments and after the Christmas service she had no hope that 1814 would be any better.

Parson Brown had practically shunned the Bennet family after mass had ended. Where he would normally come and talk to them, this time he had only shaken their hands with a icy smile and wished them a happy Christmas that had not been happy at all - not at all.

And if that would not be bad enough Lydia had shared the proposal with both Elizabeth and Jane and Mary was sure she had heard them laughing about Mister Brown. Of course she could not know - she was not invited into their confidence. It was something else that irked her, along with the invitation to Netherfield.

Was it not enough that she was forced to watch her baby sister chase away the man that she loved? Why did they now force her to watch another man courting another of her sisters and not her?

—

"A penny for your thoughts?"

Jane's question startled Elizabeth. She had not even heard her sister coming in.

"It is nothing. Well, I am not even sure what to make out of it myself."

"Then I am sure talking about it will help you, Lizzy. It always has.", Jane closed the door and sat down on the bed, shifting the sleeping child in her arm: "It is only us, and Chip. But he will not wake for an hour so it is almost like old times, don't you think?"

"I am still thinking about the sister Mister Darcy mentioned. I wrote you about it, do you remember?"

"Yes, I do. And I mentioned it to Louisa Hurst just a few days back, but had completely forgotten about it. I am sorry Lizzy, if I had known you were thinking about it so much I would have mentioned it sooner. I was just so busy with the kids and the traveling and…"

"Oh, it is nothing. I t is not like it is keeping me up at night. But please do tell me what Louisa had to say about it.", she cut her sister off and sat down next to her.

"Well Louisa did not know much. But apparently Miss Darcy got married in summer. Her husband is one George Wickham, a soldier. His father apparently worked for the Darcy's as a stewart."

"That is an unusual choice for a lady of Miss Darcy's standing.", Elizabeth ventured to say.

"Louisa says it was quite the scandal. It is rumored that they eloped to Gretna Green, but she was quite sure they got married in Bath."

"In Bath? I thought the Darcy's were from Derbyshire?"

"They are. But it appears that there was no other option. They had to marry, by the time her brother found out it was already months too late for anything else. That poor girl lost everything through him. And now a poor baby will be brought into all of this mess. Such a sad story."

Jane patted little Chip's wispy hair, looking down at her son as if she was imagining the horrors of him being born into such an environment: "Louisa did not say anything about it, but I doubt she has visited the poor girl, I doubt any of her old friends have visited. Marriage does that to you, you need to find new friends. And in a situation like hers it cannot be easy."

"Because nobody wants to visit the wife of the stewart's son?"

"It sounds very harsh when you say it like that Elizabeth. But everyone has to think about their family have children to think of, our husband's careers."

Elizabeth almost cut her tongue when her sister said that. There was so much to say about this. About husband's, who did not care one joint about what their wives really thought as long as they would just go along happily with whatever was good for „the family". But she did not. Jane was looking sick enough already: "Are you sure you are well enough? We can call the doctor to take a look at you and the baby."

"I am just staying home from one dinner party. I have been through this three times already, I know how it works. I will be fine. And anyways, Mary will be here with me."

"If you are sure about it. You know I would not mind staying home with you."

"And miss the chance to meet Mister Darcy? After you have been so interested in what happened to his sister? And Louisa will be quite disappointed if neither of us turns up. No, you go to Mister Bingley's party."

"If you insist on it.", Elizabeth smiled at her older sister. It was good to have Jane back, good to talk again like that. Even if it was about such a sad topic, it was good. It was never the same in London, where they were surrounded by everything that was new and different in Jane's life. But here, in the room they once shared as girls, it was almost like old times.

—

Kitty was nervous.

She was wearing a lavender colored dress Jane had gotten her for Christmas and Lydia had done her hair in an elaborate style. But next to Mister Bingley's fashionable sisters she still felt like a country bumpkin. Oh, how she wished Jane would have come! She always looked so pretty and elegant and would surely know how to talk with Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst.

Well at least the latter lady was deep in discussion with Lizzy. Which was good. But also bad because it meant Elizabeth would not come to her rescue if she did not know what to say to Miss Bingley.

"How do you find Netherfield Park, Miss Bingley?", she asked the lady.

"Well it is a nice enough house. It's distance to London is very convenient and I suspect there is some beauty to be found in this county. There has to be. Charles was raving about it in all of his letters.", Miss Bingley answered in a tone that Kitty could not really make out.

"Oh yes it is. Hertfordshire is very beautiful.", Kitty answered with a smile, which Miss Bingley did not reciprocate. Instead she adjusted the feathers on her orange turban and said with a dramatic sigh: "Of course. I did not want to hurt your feelings. It is just, I hoped Charles would look at some more houses in Cornwall." 

"Cornwall?"

"Oh yes. I am sure my brother must have mentioned it. The brother of my very good friend Lady Eleanor is Lord Edward, the heir of Somerset Hall.", Miss Bingley answered with a smug smile: "I have been visiting them the past two months. Lady Eleanor did not want to let me go at first. But I said to her, that I have to see the house my brother has rented out, so he does not do anything foolish all on his own here. And of course Lady Eleanor understood."

Kitty could not really imagine Mister Bingley being foolish. And he was not on his own either. Sure, the Colonel had departed, but there still was Mister Darcy. And while that gentleman certainly was strange, he did not seem to be the kind to let his friend do foolish things. But as it would not be polite to argue with a new acquaintance she simply asked: "How nice. I get it that Lord Edward's estate is situated in Cornwall?"

"Situated in Cornwall? Oh, you cannot tell me you do not know about Somerset Hall! Lord Edward owns half of Cornwall!", Caroline exclaimed just in the moment the gentlemen were joining the lady again. Mister Bingley came over to them and said with a jovial smile: "Miss Catherine, I hope my sister has not bored you with her endless talks of Cornwall yet?"

Before Kitty could answer, Miss Bingley said with an air of annoyance: "Of course I haven't Charles. What are you thinking? No, I have just told Miss Cathy here that I wish you would look at the house Lord Edward has recommended."

"I am sure it could not be any more perfect than Netherfield. I am just in love with the place!", Mister Bingley exclaimed.

"That is because you have not even taken a look at the other house. It has just wonderfully big windows. I am sure you would love it even more." 

"I doubt that possible, Caroline. Miss Catherine, can I persuade you on a walk around the gardens? Your mother mentioned you have an eye for flowers and I was just thinking about hiring some gardeners to think about something pretty for the land around the house. But I am terribly untalented in thinking about such things!"

Kitty smiled broadly at him. Nodding at his sister, she stood up: "I would like to help you in any way that I could, Mister Bingley. Miss Carey, it sure was nice talking to you. I hope you will excuse us now. Mister Bingley, we should ask my sister Elizabeth to accompany us. She so loves the outdoors."

—

Elizabeth looked at the tall gentleman next to her. When Mister Bingley and Kitty had proposed a walk around the garden he had jumped up at the last second and declared he wanted to join them. He had even offered her his arm, but now did not say one word.

Gesturing at the couple in front of them she said: "It is nice to see Mister Bingley take such interest in improving Netherfield. I guess that means he plans on staying longer?"

"It seems so at the moment. But Bingley has a history of liking to change his mind.", Mister Darcy answered solemnly.

"How unfortunate for the neighborhood.", Elizabeth answered laconically.

Mister Darcy did not answer, so they spent the next minutes in total silence again. That was until Elizabeth could not take that any more and said: "Forgive me asking, Mister Darcy, but how is your sister? I hope she is getting better."

He looked at her in a strange way: "Of course you would ask."

"I am very sorry. You do not have to answer.", she hurriedly tried to reassure him.

"It is not that. It is just that I do not know. She had not written any more since the ball."

"And you did not visit her over Christmas?", Elizabeth asked carefully.

"I am not sure she would welcome my visit.", he said and suddenly she found that he did not look strange at all - just very sad.

—

WOW! I was overwhelmed by the many reviews the last chapter got and promised myself I would upload the next one as soon as possible. And well, today was the best I could manage :D  
I am glad you like my version of Lydia, I always thought she was a young girl with a lot of energy, that just needed to be centered around something else than officers ;)  
I hope you are happy to hear a bit more about darcy in this chapter - there are so many different parts of the story that I want to focus on, but it is important not to forget our favorite gentleman from derbyshire :)


	13. Chapter 13

"Tammy seems to be a delightful child! Are you planning on keeping her with you?", Mrs. Hurst asked.

Mister Bingley's sisters had joined Kitty and Elizabeth on their way to Meryton. While Miss Bingley did not say much at all and seemed to concentrate all her energy on scowling at every tree and squirrel on the roadside, Mrs. Hurst had been the cheery lady Elizabeth remembered from London.

"She is such a dear one. And well, for the time being, she is staying with us. Her parents are both deceased and her only relative is an aunt in the village who is not particularly keen on raising another child.", Elizabeth told her friend.

"How sad! And how old is she?", Mrs. Hurst exclaimed with concern.

"Turning eight soon. It is truly a tragic story. Of course we cannot simply give her away. Everyone has become so fond of her already. But having a child in the house again is not the easiest on our Mama. Of course Jane and the children come in the holidays, but that is not the same.", Elizabeth sighed.

"Then you should come over to Netherfield! I am sure Charles would not mind and there are so many empty rooms where the children could play.", Mrs. Hurst offered with a bright smile.

"My sister does not know what she is saying, Miss Bennet. Louisa, I am sure Charles would not like children running all around the house.", it was the first thing Miss Bingley had said today and everyone looked surprised at her.

"Of course we would not want to make any inconveniences.", Elizabeth quickly said but was brushed off by Mrs. Hurst: "It would not be an inconvenience! Do not be silly Caroline! Charles loves children. We all do! I tell you something: You come over on Friday for tea and we will have an indoor picnic. How does that sound?"

—

"Mrs. Bennet, did you remember that we have a visitor coming over tonight?", asked Mister Bennet while they were seated around the breakfast table the next morning.

"A visitor? Oh Kitty! You have not told me that Mister Bingley is coming over tonight! How wonderful! I must tell Hill to plan atlas two more courses for dinner.", Mrs. Bennet exclaimed with glee and energetically stood up from the table, almost knocking over her cup of coffee.

"I did not tell you because I had no idea he was coming, Mama!", Kitty protested.

"Ladies! Calm down again please. It is not Mister Bingley who is coming to join us today.", Mister Bennet said chuckling from behind his newspaper.

"Then who is it?", asked his wife and fourth daughter almost in unisono.

Putting down his newspaper dramatically slow, Mister Bennet gravely said: "Well, I am shocked that all of you have forgotten that our dear cousin Collins has notified us of his impending visit just last October. I must admit that I had forgotten it myself until Hill reminded me this morning, but I had expected more from the fair women of this house."

"Oh Mister Bennet! Stop vexing us! Could you not have informed us earlier? Now I must cancel my plans to meet up with my sister Phillips today and prepare for a guest!", Mrs. Bennet complained.

"Why is he coming? There is no wedding to attend.", Elizabeth asked. They had only met the son of their father's cousin once - at Jane's wedding seven years back and had not heard much from him since then.

"He did not inform me of any reason, Lizzy. But I am sure we will find out soon.", Mister Bennet answered and put up his newspaper again, which was enough of a sign for Mrs. Bennet to resume talking about the new dress she wanted Kitty to have to impress Mister Bingley so much that he did not have any other choice than to finally propose.

—

Mary did not really care for visitors. In fact she did not care for anything at all much - not since she had seen Mister Brown proposing to Lydia. She had told nobody that she had witnessed the sad scene, it was enough that Lydia had told all their sisters of how she had to run away from him.

Mary was sure her little sister had exaggerated. Mister Brown was not one to run away from, he was much to decent and to polite to ever think of doing something untoward to any young lady. And he was a man of the cloth! But Lydia talked as if she had been in some dangerous situation!

And of course nobody even thought of questioning her. Mama had patted her head and bought her a new bonnet, Kitty had taken over all her embroidery work for the day and Jane and Lizzy had included her in the special discussion they always had when everyone else went to bed. As if Lydia was any more grown up and special now, just because she had rejected one good man so cruelly!

Even Papa had taken almost one day off of his books and not only found but also hired a substitute teacher for the school so that Lydia would not have to have any more interactions with the parson.

All of that would not have mattered if Mary had just seen any sign of remorse from Mister Brown for proposing to Lydia. Any sign that he had just suffered from a bad migraine that day and that in reality he saw that she - Mary - was the much better choice for a parson's wife!

But he showed no signs that could be interpreted that way. On the contrary: After church he did not even come over to talk to them, but kept glancing at Lydia whenever he thought nobody was looking. But of course Mary always was.

—

Miss Jennings was a nice and sensible young lady. So sensible that Lydia was almost completely sure Papa had hired her with the thought in mind that she would eventually be more than a simple substitute teacher.

It was a thought that angered her but also filled her with some strange sense of relief. Of course she did not want to leave the school, the children were all that had filled her mind since almost a year now! And she loved helping them, loved installing some sense of adventure and ambition in these little minds. 

But since fleeing from Mister Browns offer, things in school were not the same again. He would come around almost every day, using some petty little things as a prefix for getting her alone and that was exactly what she did not want. How his hand had forcefully grabbed her arm, the way he had looked at her, it all was too fresh in her mind to taking any chances. 

So maybe it was good, good that there was Miss Jennings. And maybe, just maybe, Lydia would take Jane's offer up and come to London with her. After all there was much more to do in the big city and a change of scenery would do her good, even Mama said so!

—

When Mr. Collins arrived at Longbourne he was quite disappointed to find that all of his fair cousins retired rather quickly after dinner and he was left alone with their mother.  
This disappointment though did not last very long because after only half a glass of very excellent wine from Mister Bennet's wine cellar Mister Collins found Mrs. Bennet to not only be a very gracious hostess but most importantly a very eager and interested listener.

"So Mister Collins, how come you have taken the journey up to meet us after all this time?", she asked while piling some biscuits on his plate.

Stuffing some of the delicious treats in his mouth he made sure to only answer after swallowing at least half of them: "So good of you to ask, Mrs. Bennet. It was the idea of my esteemed patroness, Lady Catherine de Burgh. I am sure your husband told you that I have taken up a living under her wonderful patronage just last year. By hearing her name I am sure you already assume what a benevolent patroness Lady Catherine de Burgh is and let me assure you - she lives up to everyone that is said about her. I truly could not think of a grander or wiser lady! And she never considers herself too good to share her wisdom with other! She not only told me to start searching for a wife but also to do it at Longbourn. After all, she said, it is only fair that I marry one of the Bennet daughters, so to tighten the bonds I have with the family as the heir to the house and to all it's possessions."

At the end of this long declaration Mrs. Bennet would have liked to cut Mister Collins short and inform him that while he was the heir to Longbourn he most decidedly was not the heir to it's possessions. And if she had to stuff the smallest cottage with chandeliers and heavy curtains Mrs. Bennet would take everything that was not nailed down with her.  
But she did not take the chance because while she was angrily thinking what things to take with her in the sad event of her husband's death, he had already started talking again.

"And now that I have seen my fair cousins, I can say that I will do my duty to them and to Lady Catherine de Burgh's words more than gladly. Miss Bennet has blossomed into such a pretty and lively young woman, I am sure she will make a wonderful wife.", he said and smiled broadly at his hostess.

Mrs. Bennet now found herself in an even more difficult situation. She had waited for another wedding since her dearest Jane had married the General six years ago. And now here was Mister Collins. Of course he was not the most pleasant fellow and his looks were certainly lacking, but he seemed to have a comfortable position and even if he did not - he was set to inherit Longbourne after all! But Lizzy, no Lizzy would not do. Mrs. Bennet had seen how her second oldest was pining after that charismatic Colonel after all!

"My Elizabeth surely is a wonderful girl, Mister Collins. And it is very honorable to think first of her, as she is the oldest still living at home. But it pains me to inform you that she is already very close to getting engaged. As a matter of fact I am sure her young man will offer for her as soon as he returns from serving in his majesty's army."

"How unfortunate.", Mister Collins stated sadly and Mrs. Bennet quickly added: "But I can assure you that I know of no such thing concerning my third oldest daughter Mary."

"Miss Mary?"

"She was sitting opposite to you at dinner."

"Oh yes! Of course. Such a modest young woman!" 

"Oh yes. Our Mary truly is a very modest young lady. And so pious! I am sure you would not find a more sensible girl in all of England!", Mrs. Bennet exclaimed.

It was good that Mister Collins did not press her to say anything more about her third daughter because in all honesty - there was nothing more flattering that could think about poor Mary at the moment other than the mentioned modesty, piousness and sense the girl possessed. But Mister Collins did not need to know anything more. He had come to Longbourne with a mission, the mission to find a wife. In fact Lady Catherine de Burgh had told him not to return without one. That he could not have Miss Bennet was a shame but taking his goal in mind it did not really matter how his intended looked. After all Lady Catherine de Burgh had not specified that his wife must have very pleasant looks!

—

Hello my dear readers! Again I was so happy to read all of your reviews! It always astonishes me how many readers „wives and daughters" already has and really motivates me to publish more often. Writing Mister Collins turned out to be more difficult than I imagined so I hope I have done him justice. I simply could not let chapter 13 pass by without him making an appearance :D


	14. Chapter 14

Mister Bennet loved his grandchildren very much. But after all these days clustered in the house with not only his wife, his five daughters, little Tammy, Lautie, Bitsy, the ever screaming Chip and not to forget his son-in-law and Mister Collins he was more than happy to see the General return to London Thursday night and to lend the carriage to his daughters and the children so that they could spend Friday at Netherfield.

But he did not have much tie to truly cherish his recovered quiet as his wife entered his study not even half an hour after everyone had finally left.

"Mister Bennet! I am so glad we are finally alone. I have been wanting to talk to you since days!", she exclaimed and almost fell into the armchair that was standing opposite his desk. Making a mental note to finally remove the comfortable chair from there and replace it with one of the wooden chairs from the question, Mister Bennet answered shortly: "Have you indeed, Mrs. Bennet?"

"Oh yes of course! Have you spoken to Mister Collins?", Mrs. Bennet asked with a dramatic sigh.

"To Mister Collins? Well of course I have spoken to Mister Collins. I would not have thought you think me so ruthless that I would ignore our guest. Just half an hour ago I wished him a fine day, as you may recall. You were standing right next to me when they departed. Really Mrs. Bennet, I would not have thought your ears are already failing you."

"Oh, cut that silly talk, Mister Bennet! You know exactly what I am talking about! Have you talken to him about our Mary?"

"Why should I? I always thought it should be the young admirer seeking to talk to his beloved's father and not the other way round.", Mister Bennet chuckled.

"You and I both know that Mister Collins is not exactly what one would call a typical admirer. And I am not telling you to ask him to take her hand. But it would be nice if you would encourage him some bit. God knows, Mary is not really doing anything to let the poor man know how she feels."

"Did you ever stop to think that this could be because she does not feel anything about Mister Collins? And who could blame the girl? He is not the most fetching fellow. And even if he was she would not care. She is still pining after that bloody parson.", now it was Mister Bennet's turn to join into his wive's sighs.

"Oh I know. Of course I know. And my poor Lydia has to bear all of Mary's foul moods. As if it is my little darling's fault that idiot of a man proposed to her! But don't you think it would be all better if Mary just saw Mister Collin's merits? It is not like the girl will have suitors lining up. She looks too much like your Aunt Mildred."

"As much as I detest you blaming it on my family I admit one cannot deny how much she looks like Aunt Mildred. Especially in all these dark colors she seems to favor recently. But let us come back to the matter at hand. Do you truly think Mary would be happy with Mister Collins?"

"Of course I do, Mister Bennet. I would never have suggested it if I was not sure about it.", huffed Mrs. Bennet

—

"Oh! I am so glad you have come! I was quite worried you would not make it due to the weather!", Mrs. Hurst exclaimed as the Bennet party was shown into the drawing room: "I hope you are all hungry! We have set up a small little picnic in the great hall!"

"Do not be hungry, be starving. Louisa has set out enough food to feed an entire army.", Mister Bingley laughed good natured.

"Have you ever hosted children, Mister Bingley? I can assure you, mine eat enough to rival any army.", Mrs. Harrison answered him with a smile. "Louisa, thank you so much for the invitation. The children have been talking about nothing else all day. It is really gracious of you to host us all, Mister Bingley." 

"It is our pleasure, Mrs. Harrison.", Mister Bingley answered for them both and then bowed down to the children: "Now, who wants to race me to the great hall?"

—

"One would not believe that we have hosted a ball in this room just a few weeks ago, Charles.", Caroline Bingley remarked sourly.

They had finished the lavish feast that had been sat up for them on the floor of the great hall. Now the children were playing catch with Lydia, Mary was playing something on the pianoforte and the rest of the company was still sitting on the comfortable pillows and blanket the servants had layed out for them in the middle of the hall.

"Is it not great how versatile it is?", Mister Bingley answered his sister with a laugh: "Your children are truly delightful, Mrs. Harrison. And the food was much better than anything I have ever eaten. We should eat on the floor more often."

"Do not let the children hear that, Mister Bingley. You will only give them ideas.", Mrs. Harrison told him and then looked over to where her little ones were playing: "It is truly good to have us here. Laurie and Bitsy were getting impatient with staying inside the nursery at Longbourne all this time."

A small cry alerted both Mrs. Harrison and Mister Bingley from their conversation. But before Mrs. Harrison could stand up, Elizabeth had went to the basket and picked up little Chip: "Do not worry Janey. I will take a walk with this little fellow here. I am sure he is just annoyed he does not get any chance to get in on our fun."

Cradling her nephew in her arms, Elizabeth stood up and took some steps away from the group. Walking over to the other side of the room she sat down at the window seat, rocking the baby up and down while looking outside: "Now what do you say of this, little man? Do you think we will make it home safe tonight or will the snow continue like this?"

Chip just gurgled happily, bouncing up and down on her lap. Instead, a dark voice answered: "I would not count on getting home tonight, Miss Bennet. The weather will only get worse from now."

"Are you an expert on the weather now, Mister Darcy?", she asked but did not turn around.

"I would not call myself an expert, Miss Bennet. But I know enough to see that it will not be safe for any carriage to make the way to Longbourne. Especially not one with children in it."

"Let us hope you are wrong. I am sure Mister Bingley would not want to have to host such a large party."

"Bingley would not mind one bit. He would be delighted to have the chance to converse longer with Mrs. Harrison", Mister Darcy said in a tone that made Elizabeth turn around. She looked over to the group. Mister Bingley indeed seemed to be very animated telling some sort of story that involved wild gesticulating with his hands and seemed to be very funny, judging from Jane's amused face.

"Well, I am biased of course, but I wager to say that everyone would be delighted to talk to Jane longer.", Elizabeth said: "And everyone does make a merry party."

Before she could add anything else, Mister Collins had joined them. Looking at her cousin, Elizabeth forced herself to address him cordially: "Are you enjoying the evening, Mister Collins?"

"Oh cousin Elizabeth, how courteous of you to ask! As as clergyman I am of course not used to such frivolities but I will admit that joining in on such innocent fun does even us men of the clergy some good from time to time. And even my esteemed patroness, Lady Catherine de Burgh could not fault an outing such as this. But of course she would be much too graceful to join in. Which reminds me: Mister Darcy, I am very happy to inform you that her ladyship has been very well when I left her last week."

"Thank you very much for that information, Mister Collins.", Mister Darcy said in a grave tone.

"Do you know Lady Catherine, Mister Darcy?", Elizabeth asked surprised.

"What a silly question to ask, Cousin Elizabeth. Of course Mister Darcy knows Lady Catherine de Burgh. He is the son of her late sister, Lady Anne. Lady Catherine has spoken about you quite at lengths, Mister Darcy."

"I assume she has. My aunt has a tendency to talk about any topic at lengths, Miss Bennet.", Mister Darcy said to Elizabeth, who did not get the chance to reply with more than a smile, as Mister Collins had already started talking again.

"Of course she does. Lady Catherine's wisdom is infinite. There is no topic where she is not an expert and she is gracious enough to share her knowledge with us. But then you know that already, Mister Darcy. Just yesterday I was saying to Mrs. Bennet and to my lovely cousins here that she is truly the grandest lady. And to think that I will be related to her!"

"How so? Should we congratulate you, Mister Collins?", Elizabeth asked puzzled.

"Oh, you are truly too funny, Cousin Elizabeth. I am of course talking about you impeding wedding with Colonel Fitzwilliam. When your mother mentioned that you are already taken I had no idea that it was to her ladyship's nephew, but when Cousin Lydia mentioned the Colonel I quickly pieced it together. I can only congratulate you, my fair cousin. Of course I have never met the Colonel, but as such a close relative to my patroness, I am sure he is the best of men!"

Elizabeth could not do more than look between her cousin and Mister Darcy in a mixture of shock and horror, before Lydia walked up to them. They were to have dinner in the dining room. Miss Bingley had insisted on a table again.

—

Mister Darcy proofed to be right. Not even half way through dinner it was decided that the Bennets would better stay at Netherfield for the night.

Mister Darcy also proofed to be staring at Elizabeth all through dinner, or so she thought. She wondered if he had taken Mister Collins' words seriously and she wondered if he cared. And then she wondered why she cared. Oh, what a strange night it was!

"Are you alright, Elizabeth? You are so quiet this evening!", Mrs. Hurst question shook Lizzy out of her thoughts and she quickly reassured her hostess that she indeed was fine and made more of an effort to join the conversation after that. There would be plenty of time to right what Mister Collins had said after dinner.

—

"Now Tammy, if you wake up at night do not worry. I am just opposite the hall and you are not alone. Little Laurie and Bitsy are just here with you.", Lydia said, patting Tammy's light hair and tucking her in.

"And you will come in when I am asleep?", the little girl asked with a sleepy smile.

"Of course I will. Now sleep well my darling and dream of all the fun we will have in the snow tomorrow.", Lydia kissed her charge on the head. Standing at the foot of the bed she watched over Tammy until the girl fell asleep, her soft breath going regularly, a peaceful little smile on her face.

"You are quite good with her."

Turning around Lydia saw their hostess standing at the door.

"I surely try my best, Mrs. Hurst. She is the dearest little girl. And she loved the evening. She has never fallen asleep this quickly or this happily."

"It was my pleasure, Miss Lydia. I so love to have children around."

"And you are very good with them. Tammy already has taken a liking to you. I am sure you will make a wonderful mother.", Lydia smiled at the older woman.

"That is exactly what I wanted to talk with you about. You see, Miss Lydia, my husband and I have been praying for child for years now. But it seems that…well, we have not been lucky.", Mrs. Hurst's voice broke and Lydia was afraid she would start crying, but her hostess luckily collected herself quickly: "And well. Mister Hurst and I have been wanting to adopt a child for quite some time now."

"I am afraid I do not know how to help you with that. I am running a school, Mrs. Hurst, not an orphanage."

"Of course, Miss Lydia. And you will find me terribly straightforward. But Mr. Hurst and I, we have fallen in love with your little Tammy the minute we met her. And today, well it was simply wonderful to have all of you here with us."

"Are you saying you want to take Tammy away from me?"

"Of course not. We would love to adopt her. We would treat her like our own child. And you would not be cut off either. You would be welcome to come and stay with us whenever you like. And we would love to visit your family in Hertfordshire whenever my brother will have us."

—

I was so happy to read all of your reviews! 200 is quite the number for me and when I started this story I would have never expected so many people would enjoy to read it. I hope you liked this chapter as well and all it's new revelations! I hope there are not too many changes of perspective in this chapter.

To Trini: Gracias for your review. I sadly have taken only half a year of spanish in high school so I am not entirely sure if I understood your reviews completely but from what I have made out you understood the story quite well. I hope you continue enjoying the story and I am sorry I cannot respond to you in spanish, but english is already difficult enough for me at the moment. 


	15. Chapter 15

"I had quite the strange encounter with Mister Collins yesterday, Mama. He seems to think I am engaged to the Colonel.", Elizabeth told her mother when they were finally sitting in the yellow salon all alone, without Mrs. Hill asking about the dinner plans, Papa mocking the newspaper journalist who had messed up Prussia with Russia and Mary's banging pianoforte playing.

"Engaged? Oh Lizzy! Why have you not told me? Has he spoken to your Father already? Oh, we must start planning the wedding!", Mrs. Bennet exclaimed excitedly and dropped her needle work at once. Lizzy sighed heavily. That was exactly why she had dreaded bringing it up to her mother!

"He has not spoken to Papa because there is no reason to. Colonel Fitzwilliam and I are not engaged, Mama. Which makes it even more peculiar that Mister Collins of all people seems to think we are. Have you said anything to him about the Colonel?", She stated calmly.

"How could I say there was an engagement if there was none? I hope you are not calling your own poor Mama a liar, Elizabeth!", Mrs. Bennet huffed: "Maybe Mister Collins has misunderstood something.", taking up the needle again she seemed to want to put the conversation at an end.

Elizabeth though did not want to let the topic rest that easily: "But how could he misunderstand something? If you have not mentioned the Colonel he should have no idea that we even know him."

"Of course I did not mention him. Why would I? I just told him that you have an admirer, he must have figured out it is the Colonel all by himself. If I had known Mister Collins to be so noisy I would not have said anything. I am sure he has better things to do than babbling about your love life!"

Elizabeth sighed. If only Mama knew!

—

Kitty was displeased. She had spent the last two days seeing Mister Bingley smile at her oldest sister, playing with Jane's children, listening to his sister's complains and worrying about hosting an overnight-party. Basically doing everything, well except paying attention to her.

And it irked her. More than she would have liked to admit.

"Stop furrowing your brow. You will scare Tammy into thinking you are some scary old lady.", Lydia's laugh rouse Kitty out of her dark thoughts. Looking up from the book which pages she had not turned for at least the last half an hour she saw two half dressed up girls, smiling mischievously at her: "Are you going out in this weather?", Kitty asked them surprised.

The snowing had stopped but it had been windy all day and heavy raindrops were hitting against the windows. The weather definitely matched Kitty's mood, but that was no reason to venture out in the cold.

"We are taking the carriage. Mrs. Hurst has invited us to tea and we were wondering if you would not like to join us.", Lydia answered lightly while tying Tammy's bonnet: "It was very nice of Mrs. Hurst to invite us over again. I think she really likes you.", she said to her.

The little girl giggled: "Or she likes scones."

"That of course is a very real possibility. Who does not like scones? We should count how many scones she eats to see which one of us is right.", Lydia laughed while buttoning Tammy's coat up: "Now, look at you! Not even that nasty Miss Bingley could look smarter."

"Miss Bingley does not look like she likes scones.", Tammy mused and added after some thought: "She does not look like she enjoys any food that much."

"Then we should feel very sorry for her, don't you think? She must be miserable.", Lydia exclaimed and put on her gloves: "Now Kitty, do you want to come with us? We have to leave soon if we do not want to be late!"

Kitty looked between their smiling faces. Tea at Netherfield surely sounded very tempting. But no, she could not bear risking to see Mister Bingley when he had been so rude to her: "Go on without me. I have a slight headache and will better lay down for an hour or so."

The second she had stopped talking Lydia rushed out, Tammy on her hand, shouting for the driver to ready the horses and for Kitty to rest well almost at the same time.

—

After her mother had complained one time too often about the sonata she was playing, Mary had resorted to playing in the little salon at the other end of the house where there was nobody to appreciate her playing but also nobody to criticize it.

It was not sad. It was melancholiac. But nobody seemed to get that, not even Lizzy who should; after all she played the pianoforte herself.

A loud coughing caught Mary's attention and she stopped playing and turned around to find Mister Collins standing in the doorway.

"Oh Miss Mary, I am so sorry. I did not want to disturb you in your playing. Your mother was right, you are quite the proficient player.", he praised her and came into the room: "I do not think I have heard this song before. Who wrote it?"

"John Fielding. I am not surprised you have not heard it before. It only came out last year.", Mary answered cautiously.

"Oh, that will be the reason. My esteemed patroness Lady Catherine de Burgh is very fond of music and has such a fine taste. She only listens to the works of the best and long established composers of course."

"So she does not play herself?"

"Oh of course not. Of course she knows how to play, she was one of the most proficient players in her youth. But a lady in her position does not need to entertain guests with her playing any longer."

Mary would have liked to tell him that she did not play to entertain guests. That she liked to play and that Lady Catherine could not be much good as a piano player if she had so easily given it up. But she did not even get the chance to voice one of these thoughts as Mister Collins had sat down on the small couch by the time she had found the courage to speak and was starting to talk again himself.

"But of course I have not come to discuss music with you, my dear cousin Mary. Even if it is a most elegant topic for gentle conversation and I enjoy discussing it, especially with such an accomplished musician as yourself. But no, Miss Mary. I must come to the point, because, as my esteemed patroness Lady Catherine de Burgh always says, one has to get to the point of an important matter as quickly as possible! And I flatter myself to think that this may be the most important moment of your life till now, my dear Miss Mary.  
When I came to Longbourne I came with a very important mission in mind. Because, as you see, I am a clergyman and as such I have to set the example of matrimony to my parish. Lady Catherine de Burgh reminded me of this just last week when i had dinner with her at Rosings Park. She is such a gracious hostess and invites me as often as once a week when she has no other dinner guests over! So when I came to Longbourne, I had already decided on finding a wife here, as I see it as my christian duty to offer some help to your poor family should your dear father die and what better way to do that than to ensure one of his daughters becomes the next mistress of Longbourne? And when I saw you, Miss Mary, I knew that Lady Catherine de Burgh could not have

adviced me to find a wife at any better time! I was at once mesmerized by your graceful modesty, your advanced knowledge of scripture and your wonderful piano playing. I can only assure you of my deepest devotion and love and hope that you feel the same!"

Mary looked in wonder at her cousin. While he had spoken she had pinched her arm quite a few times to assure that this was not some strange dream she would wake up from any minute. But it was not. Here he was, looking ridiculously big on that small couch and staring at her like an excited puppy.

"I feel very honored to accept your proposal, Mister Collins.", she said and wondered in her head why her voice seemed to sound so strange and different.

But her fiancé did not seem to notice. Jumping up he loudly exclaimed: "Wonderful! I must write to Lady Catherine de Burgh at once! But no, we have to talk to your father first. Do you think now would be a good time?"

And before she could answer, he was rushing out of the room.

—

"That really was not necessary. It must have been such a trouble to get it here.", Lydia said to Mrs. Hurst while sipping on her cup of tea.

"Oh, it was no trouble at all. I send for it the minute I saw little Tammy. I just knew she would love it.", said their hostess with a big smile.

"Of course she does. What little girl would not? But Mrs. Hurst, please know that you do not have to give her fancy presents.", Lydia said while looking over at Tammy.

When Mrs. Hurst had talked about a small surprise she had expected a doll, maybe one of these ridiculously expensive china dolls not even Jane bought for little Bitsy but what Mrs. Hurst had then shown them was the most extravagant dollhouse. Tammy had been ecstatic and even Lydia herself suddenly wished it would have been exactable for her to join in the fun.

"Being a mother is so much more than giving gifts. Of course I know that. But I am just so excited for this. We both are, my husband maybe even more. We have waited for a child for over seven years now.", Mrs. Hurst said with a sad smile. "And now that we are finally so close to having one, it feels like a dream come true. I keep pinching myself to make sure I do not suddenly wake up." 

"I am very happy that Tammy will have loving parents to look after her. I really am. It is just so much harder to let her go than I ever thought it would be.", Lydia sighed.

—

"Mister Darcy! I did not expect to see you here!", Elizabeth exclaimed in surprise.

"I hope you were not doubting my ability to read, Miss Bennet?", the tall gentleman answered while putting his chosen book back on the shelf: "I was trying to find something for my sister." 

"I was not. I was just surprised to see you in the village at all. At this time at least. I thought that, well, how is your sister?", Elizabeth asked, desperately wondering why she could not even form one proper sentence. Damn that blasted Mister Collins!

"She sounded much improved in her last letter, thank you for asking." Mister Darcy answered with a slight smile.

"I am glad to hear that.", Looking over the rows of books Elizabeth pulled one out: "How about this? I know, it is just a novel, but it greatly amused me and my sisters when we had to keep in bed."

"That sounds like a much better recommendation than I could get from the shopkeeper."

"Oh yes. Mister Hastings is a dear but he is not exactly interested in girl's literature.", Elizabeth smiled looking over to the old gentleman.

"I got that impression too. Thank you for the suggestion, Miss Bennet, I will certainly get the book. Please excuse me now, I do not want to disturb your browsing any longer and need to return to Netherfield.", Mister Darcy bowed to her and before Elizabeth could reply he was off.

—

Hey everyone! I had hopes to get this chapter up before my holidays but Lizzy and Mary did not really cooperate with me, so you are getting this only now…I am not entirely happy with our favorite couples conversation in this chapter but before I rewrite it again I decided just to see what you may think! About Mister Collins proposal: I thought about just copying it from Jane's masterpiece, because frankly, that proposal was so wonderfully bad, nobody could do it better. And Mister Collins seems to be the type to practice one engagement speech and deliver it to every girl he wants to hear it. But then I felt like Mary deserved at least her own engagement speech and this came out.


	16. Chapter 16

To say that Mrs. Bennet was pleased to hear about her daughter Mary's engagement to Mister Collins would be one of the gravest understatements ever made. The second Mary had uttered that she had indeed accepted her cousin she was greeted with maybe the biggest hug her mother had ever bestowed on her and her good fortune was praised so enthusiastically that Mister Bennet later remarked drily that even Sir William at Lucas Lodge must have heard her loud and clear. 

While Mister Collins was maybe not as loud as his future mother-in-law he could certainly match her in the number of words that came out of his mouth in the short period of time that he stayed at Longbourne to discuss the wedding date. After just two days and with the vocal help of Mrs. Bennet and the written consent of Lady Catherine de Burgh he settled on the second Sunday in February and as Mary had no reason to object he departed to Kent again to ready the parsonage for his bride and attend to his parish and to Lady Catherine de Burgh again.

His departure was met with many a relieved sigh from the Bennet sisters. While Elizabeth was not sure how to broach the topic to Mary without sounding insulting, her younger sister Lydia had no such qualms: "Oh Mary! How could you agree to marry this odious man? If you just tell Papa you were out of your mind when you accepted him I am sure we can still break up the engagement quite nicely. Maybe we should take him to Lucas Lodge, Charlotte seems so desperate lately, I am sure she would help him get over you in no time.", she exclaimed and let herself fall into her father's armchair.

"That is not a nice thing to say about Charlotte, Lydia dear. She is almost twelve years your senior and it is only natural that she longs for a home of her own.", said Jane who had decided to stay at Longbourn till Mary's wedding with the children while her husband returned home to return to his duties in the war office and would only return for the ceremony and to collect his family to their home again.

"John Lucas always says that she could stay on and be a governess for his children when he marries.", Kitty chimed in. "But that is such a cruel thing to say, don't you think?"

"John is terribly full of himself since he attends university. He acts like he is the smartest man in all Hertfordshire and his grades are so poorly! I am sure I would be much better if I only girls where allowed to attend Cambridge.", Lydia announced grimly.

"I am sure you would.", Elizabeth laughed and then turned to Mary who had sat silently listening to her sisters banter and said quite serious: "Lydia surely could have found nicer words, but she was right: "Are you sure you want to marry Mister Collins, Mary?"

Putting her needlework aside Jane went and sit down next to Mary on the chaise lounge. Squeezing her sisters hand she softly said: "I am sure Mister Collins is a nice and decent young man. But are you sure you want to marry already? You are not even nineteen, you have so much more time to meet eligible man."

Mary looked between her sisters. They were all staring at her with a strange look. It almost seemed like they were pitying her. This was surely not how she had envisioned their first talk to be after her engagement: "I am not going to break my engagement just because you do not find Mister Collins attractive enough."

"Oh Mary! You know that was not what we meant!", Elizabeth exclaimed.

"Even though he certainly could be more attractive."

"Oh hush, Kitty! This is not what this is about! It is about Mary binding herself to a boorish and odious man who will probably expect her to bow to his and that stupid Lady Catherine de Burgh's every whim. Even looking like a greek god would not make him any more appealing.", Lydia huffed and Mary felt her anger rise with every word her energetic sister spoke.

"Of course you do not find him unappealing! You are so selfish and full of yourself that you cannot do more than look down on every man that crosses your way. But sadly not all of us are pretty enough for that", Mary said and then, for the first time in almost ten years, stormed out the room. Banging the door forcefully behind her, she run upstairs to her room, hot tears running down her cheeks.

—

"Poor Mary. I am afraid we have been much too harsh with her.", Jane sighed.

The two eldest sisters was sitting in Elizabeth's room. It was long after a still angry Mary had fallen asleep and a very huffed Lydia had retired to her room with Kitty, who had tried to soften the waves to no avail after Mary's outburst.

"Lydia could have been more polite. Of course. But did she not say exactly what all of us were thinking. If Mary loved the fool it might be different. While I would certainly worry about her sanity then I would not worry so much for her heart at least.", Elizabeth said sadly.

"It is not unusual for a marriage to be based on something else than love, Lizzy."

"Of course it is not! But it should be!", Elizabeth had some trouble keeping her voice down but the loud snoring that came from her parent's bedchamber quickly reminded her that other than her and Jane the entire household was asleep and should better stay that way: "And if she must marry for something else than love, could she not at least marry someone better than Mister Collins?", she added in an almost whisper.

"Maybe they will come to love each other. And she will be quite comfortable in Kent. And Lydia could even stay at Longbourne now that Mary will be mistress one day.", Jane laughed.

"You know she would rather marry John Lucas than live at home forever. She longs too much to see the world.", Elizabeth joined in Jane's laughter. It was so good to have her home. If there was someone who would get Elizabeth to see the light in any situation, it certainly was her older sister!

—

Mary rose late the next morning, making sure she would not meet any of her sisters at breakfast. She was sorry about the scene yesterday, but surely not about what she said.

And when she saw her mother almost buried under cotton fabrics and lace she did not flee the room at once but went over to her and gladly took one of the handkerchiefs to embroider. A C was even easier than the blasted B she had practiced stitching in the privacy of her own room for the last months.

—

It had been a cloudy morning and spending almost three hours indoors with a very excited Mrs. Bennet and a quite moody Mary had done nothing to ease Elizabeth's spirit. Especially not when forced to do needlework!

So when the clouds finally cleared just after luncheon she set out to enjoy some last hours of sunshine before darkness would set in. Elizabeth had always been an avid walker and the last days locked indoors had awoken not only her need to be in the fresh winter air again but also her ambition to make it up to Oakham Mountain before dusk set in. 

Taking in the familiar landscape she stopped in her tracks when she saw a tall figure just ahead of her. Mister Darcy was coming just in her direction and she felt the sudden urge to hide behind some bushes but as he had already seen her, that sadly was not an option.

"Mister Darcy! what a surprise to see you here! Have you been walking up to Oakham Mountain?", she greeted him and while curtsying realized how deep her hem was already dragged in mud. Oh, how embarrassing this was!

"Good day Miss Bennet. I was going to but it seems like I have missed a turning.", he said and she internally sighed. Now there were only two possibilities: Going back home and missing the view she she had longed for all this time or going with Mister Darcy of all people.

Surprisingly he met her offer with an almost broad smile and immediately offered her his arm. Walking together they reached the top of Oakham Mountain in no time. After she had pointed out some points of interest to him, she turned around and was about to make her excuses to him, when he suddenly said: "It seems that i have to congratulate you and your family, Miss Bennet. I am sure your mother is glad about two engagements in such a short time frame."

"My mother certainly is happy, but not about two engagements.", she said and when looking into his confused face quickly added: "But I am sure my sister and Mister Collins will be happy to hear your congratulations."

"So you and Colonel Fitzwilliam have not come to an understanding?", he asked in a serious tone she could not really interpret.

"No, we have not."

"Good.", was all he said before he offered her his arm and escorted her all the way down the mountain in total silence.

—

"But will I get to see you when I am in London?", Tammy asked with big eyes and Lydia had to try very hard to keep the tears back.

"Of course you will. I will come to visit you and Mrs. Hurst already said that she wants us to spend the summers together."

"At Netherfield? With Mister Bingley and all the cousins?", fidgeting at Lydia's dress Tammy looked so small and fragile and Lydia wondered how she could even think of giving her away all the way to London. Was she even sure Mrs. Hurst was ready for a child?

"If Mister Bingley decides to buy Netherfield Park we certainly shall. But who knows, maybe you will have so much fun in London that you do not even want to return to the boring country side at all.", she said with a big smile that did not really hide how terribly sick she suddenly felt.

"And I can write you, can't I not?"

"Of course you can. And I will write to you. I will write you a letter right after you leave, so when you wake up in London you already have something to read from home, my darling girl.", tucking one of Tammy's golden curls behind her bonnet, Lydia looked over to the window. Outside Mrs. Hurst was standing with her husband, all ready to make the journey back to London. Mister Hurst had come to Netherfield Park just to pick his wife and new child up and while Lydia found him a bit too fixated on Mister Bingley's vine cellar and pantry he seemed like a good hearted man and even possessed some humor in dealing with his sister-in-law who had taken the news that she would remain in Hertfordshire while the Hursts returned to London not that well.

With a heavy heart she went outside and saw Tammy handed in the carriage. Waving her handkerchief at the departing carriage Lydia only allowed the tears to fall after it had already vanished from her sight.

—

"Girls, get dressed up nicely tonight, will you? With all these guests coming I want you all to look your best.", Mrs. Bennet smiled at her daughters at breakfast the next morning. One less child at home certainly did wonder to her nerves and now that Mary was already leaving so soon, she almost felt it life-threatening important to show her engaged daughter off to as many of her neighbors as possible.

"Do we really have to give a dinner party just a day after Tammy left?", Lydia asked with a heavy sigh.

"You are acting like Tammy died. You should be thankful she is with a good family now and with a real mother.", Mary said with a grim smile.

"Are you saying I was not enough for Tammy? I may remind you that…"

"Lydia please, I am sure Mary meant no such thing. Mama, when are the guests coming?", asked Jane who was sitting between her oldest two children and picking daintily at her food.

"At seven of course. We do not want anyone too think we are too far in the country side to know what in en vogue in town. So you should be ready by half past six. You know how dreadfully early Lady Lucas can be.", Mrs. Bennet complained while taking a hearty bite from her bread.

"Has Mister Bingley answered your invitation?", Kitty asked, trying to not sound too excited.

"Oh yes of course he has, Kitty dear. Why ever would he not come?", her mother answered with a shake of her head.

The conversation took one from there, with Lydia complaining about the dress Mrs. Bennet wanted her to wear, Elizabeth discussing the newspaper with their father, little Laurie throwing his plate down and Mary reading aloud a letter from Mister Collins that nobody really seemed to listen to.

Only Kitty was deep in her thoughts. Yes, why would Mister Bingley stay home indeed, when he had all the reason to come to Longbourn and smile at Jane? But tonight would be different, she decided and made sure to return to her room as soon as it was possible.

Her appearance at this dinner party certainly needed to be planned out to perfection! 

—

Hey everyone! Thank you for being so patient with me! I know my updating schedule is terrible and I am extremely sorry for that! But here it finally is, the next chapter.

Mary's story is one I particularly enjoy writing. I argued with myself if I should better explain her reasons for accepting Collins proposal but then I thought back and remembered that a good author should not tell but show and attempted to do just that. So if it is still too unlikely for you please tell me and I will try better next chapter!  
And of course I hope you enjoyed some more Darcy/Lizzy conversation even if it was very short! Somehow they are quite difficult for me to write at the moment. I am not sure why but they just do not flow as well as I had hoped they would. But I guess sometimes your protagonists just have other ideas than you have….Let us hope I have them back on track by the time dinner starts!  
And lastly I want to address the reviewers who take out all this work to remind me of all the spelling mistakes I make. I know it can be pretty annoying to read a text and just be distracted by the many errors the writer has made…But please know that i am always trying my best and that I am bound to make some mistakes as English is still a foreign language to me. So if it is not something terrible I will not correct the last chapters as i am (at least for now) purely writing for my (and I hope your) enjoyment. I hope you still continue reading though!

So, I guess that was the longest author's note I have ever written and to whoever made it through to the end: Thanks for your support!


	17. Chapter 17

As it was Mrs. Bennet's first dinner party after the engagement of her third oldest daughter she had saved no money or trouble and had invited over half of the many suitable families she knew in the area. The fact that Mary's bridegroom was already back in Kent was of no consequence, because even if Mrs. Bennet was extremely glad he was marrying her least appealing daughter she was realistic enough to realize that a dinner party without him was immediately a better one. She said so to her husband when he complained about the number of guests and even if it was hard for him, Mister Bennet had to agree with his wife.

If they had asked their daughters they would have surely come to a similar conclusion, but thankful they spared Mary's dignity and did not. Even the most unobservant parent would have noticed that she was not in the best spirits after her outburst a few days earlier and while Mrs. Bennet certainly was not the smartest or wittiest of mothers she knew when something was troubling her daughters. Not thinking that her darling little Lydia could have done anything wrong she quickly assumed that the reality of marrying Mister Collins was what was making Mary's mind so sour. 

Mrs. Bennet would have been pleased to know that she was at least partly right and shocked to know that this was not the sole reason. No, the reason lay mostly with one very different gentleman and if Mary had said anything about still caring for that terrible Mister Brown she would have been met with more disgust from her mother than sympathy. Because even if she wanted her daughters to marry, Mrs. Bennet certainly could not forgive nobody who made her darling Lydia cry, even if it was during a proposal of marriage. So Mary was silent, keeping her anger and rejection bottled up and silently imagining how shocked Mister Brown must have been while reading the bans for her and Mister Collins. She would show him what a good parson's wife she could be, even if that meant marrying an entirely different parson!

—

Just two hours before the dinner party would begin, little Bitsy threw up and while Kitty had surely not wished any harm to her adorable niece she felt strangely happy about the child being sick. Not that she wanted anyone to be sick. But with Bitsy being sick, Jane would never attend the party but stay upstairs and read to her little girl, which meant Kitty would have no compassion with Mister Bingley.

Jane, who had no idea where her sister's thoughts lay even was nice enough to lend her one of her prettiest gowns, the one with the blue lace and little embroidered flowers. Dressing up Kitty did not even mind Lydia's lecture about the terrible conditions the weavers had to live under to produce such a beautiful garment.

Lydia in contrast wore a simple pink dress and Kitty grimly thought how pretty she looked. It was truly good that Lydia thought more about her little children in the school house and talked so horribly much about them! Otherwise maybe Mister Bingley would have paid more attention to her, with how similar to Jane Lydia always looked! Well at least Mama always said so, Kitty could not see much similarities between her youngest and oldest sister! Surely, they were both tall and fair and had the same nose and cheekbones, but Lydia was so much more tanned with all that time she spent outside forgetting her bonnet!

—

Elizabeth had hoped for Jane's attendance. Her last encounter certainly had her puzzled with Mister Darcy! At first she had thought him fairly friendly, if maybe a bit stuck up. But how relieved he had looked when finding out she was not going to marry his cousin! As if it would have been such a scandal for her to marry the Colonel! 

Of course he was the son of an earl and had better connections than her. But he also was the second son and even if she liked him tremendously she was not clouded in her judgement enough to see that he was not the most good looking fellow. And even if he would have been - she was a gentleman's daughter after all and with Jane's connections and Mary's impending marriage she certainly was good enough for a man of Colonel Fitzwilliam's standing, even if he was the second son of an earl!

—

"Mister Bingley! I hope you have sufficiently recovered from all of our many visits to Netherfield Park.", Kitty greeted the gentleman with a big smile.

"Quite contrary, Miss Catherine. The halls feel quite lonely now that it is only me and Caroline.", Mister Bingley answered with a jovial smile, ignored his sister's snickering and added: "You should all come and visit us, maybe we can convince cook to prepare us a picnic again."

"Or we could dine like civilized people. Really Charles, you sound not much older than a mere schoolboy.", Miss Bingley said with a sour look on her pale face: "Even for Hertfordshire your manners are truly lacking, don't you think Miss Kitty?"

"A dinner at Netherfield sounds wonderful either way.", Kitty answered, trying to sound as polite and diplomatic as Jane always did.

But thinking of Jane definitely was not the best idea as Mister Bingley immediately said: "Do not worry about it, Miss Kitty. We will have that picnic. It will be so much nicer for the children anyways, don't you think Caroline? I should see and get Mrs. Harrison's opinion on the best date. Miss Kitty, I hope you will excuse me?", and Kitty could do more than wonder if even thinking of her older sister was now bad luck with him.

—

If Lydia had known Mama would forcer her to sit next to Mariah Lucas of all people, she would have surely missed out on this blasted dinner party! Of course, they had been friends when they were children but to think that she could have a proper conversation with that silly girl now?

"You must be so excited to see Mary marry! Has she already decided on a dress? I know that if I were to marry, I would get the most wonderful yellow silk from London, I already picked it out when I was there last time but Mama refused to let me buy it.", Mariah gushed and sighed and spoke so animatedly that Lydia almost understood why her mother was so prone to headaches.

"I am sure yellow silk will stay in fashion for quite some years.", she drily answered and looked over to the other side of the table. Kitty sadly would not be any help, for she was batting her eyelashes at Mister Bingley and Elizabeth was seated at the other end of the table. With a sigh she turned to Mariah again: "My Aunt Gardiner has sent some light green muslin from London. I believe it is for Mary's dress. If you want to know more you should ask Mama or Kitty. They are in charge of it."

But Mariah's interest in the dress was already satisfied with knowing that Mary Bennet was certainly not making it difficult for any other bride in Hertfordshire to outshine her in the hopefully near future and she continued boring Lydia with tales from her last trip to town.

—

"Do not look over to him, Lizzy, but Mister Darcy is staring at you.", Charlotte Lucas whispered to her friend when they were sitting down with coffee after dinner.

"Is he? Well, he is probably thanking God that I drove his cousin away without a proposal! He looked more relieved to hear that I would not hinder his cousin's chances of a good match than Mama looked when she heard of Mary's engagement.", Elizabeth answered laughingly.

"Did he say that?", Charlotte asked shocked.

"Of course not. He might not be the most refined gentleman, but he certainly is not that rude. No, his face said it all. He looked almost happy.", Elizabeth said and took a sip from her coffee. If Charlotte kept talking like this it would go cold before she had even drunken half of it!

"Maybe he was happy to know you are still on the market?", Charlotte asked with a small smile and Elizabeth looked at her friend in wonder. Maybe Jane was right and Charlotte was truly getting crazy spending all this time at home.

Charlotte must have sensed how little her friend was open to discussing Mister Darcy any further and changed the subject of the conversation quickly. Discussing Shakespeare's works, Elizabeth found that while Charlotte certainly lacked understanding when it came to Mister Darcy, Charlotte certainly did not have lost her mind, as she was still able to discuss Hamlet with her better than even her father had.

—

Mary looked about the room. it was her party. A dinner given in her honor, to celebrate her engagement to Mister Collins. And here she was, sitting in a corner all alone, while everyone else was having fun!

Mama and Lady Lucas were busy discussing flower arrangements, Kitty was flirting with Mister Bingley, Elizabeth was in deep discussion with Charlotte, Lydia was talking to Mariah, even Papa was laughing at something Sir William had said. And Mama had not even accepted her proposal to play at the pianoforte, citing that they should give all the ladies a chance and now Mary King was butchering the instrument for the fourth song already!

Oh, if only she was already married and could converse easily with a few fellow housewives. Not silly ones like Mama or Lady Lucas, but sensible ones, who would gladly come to her for advise and help. Who would see her as the capable parson's wife and not as just plain Mary Bennet.

"Miss Mary! Please accept my apologies for not congratulating you personally any sooner. I hope you will find happiness in Kent.", Mary looked up at Mister Darcy who was suddenly standing in front of her and fidgeting with a handkerchief in his hand.

Quite surprised she answered simply: "Thank you, Mister Darcy.", and after a quite painful silence she added: "I am already looking forward to moving to my new home in Kent. I am sure Mister Collins and I will be very happy together."

And while Mister Darcy smiled at her and then went back to his place at the window, Mary realized for the first time since her engagement, just how shallow and false her words sounded.

—

Elizabeth listened to Jane's soft breathing. When she had come up after the dinner party Jane had already been fast asleep on her side of the bed. She had longed to tell Jane about Charlotte's strange ideas and how Mister Bingley had asked about her and the children. He really was quite sweet about it!

But Jane was sleeping and looked so peaceful that Elizabeth had not found it in her to wake her sister up. Instead she had gone to bed and fallen in an uneasy sleep from which she awoke just after the clock tolled five.

Quietly dressing herself she decided to go outside. At this time of the day nobody would be there to disturb her thoughts, she grimly thought while wrapping a shawl around her shoulders. Tiptoeing through the hallway she stopped dead in her tracks when she heard some noise coming from Mary's room.

Cautiously she pressed her ear against the door, just like she had done as a small girl. Now she could almost hear Mary's muffled cries clearly. Opening the door slightly she saw her younger sister sprawled out on her bed, her head buried in the pillows.

"Mary? Is everything alright? Are you feeling ill?", she asked and quietly stepped in the small room, closing the door behind her.

The crying stopped, but Mary did not turn around. In the seconds that passed Elizabeth wondered if she had just imagined her sister's wails. But when Mary finally turned around and looked at her, she could see even in the dark night, that she had not imagined things: "Oh Mary.", she simply muttered and sat down next to the girl on the bed.

"I cannot stop thinking about him.", Mary finally said, without looking at her.

"About Mister Collins?", Elizabeth asked tensely.

"About Mister Brown.", her sister answered with an air of defiance and suddenly looked at her, almost daring her to say anything at all.

"I had not realized you still cared about him.", Elizabeth said, trying to sound as neutral as possible.

"Why? Because he liked Lydia better?", Mary almost spat out.

"No. Because of how he treated Lydia after she turned him down."

"Well of course he was not happy. Why would he after being turned down so brutally? And I do not see how he treated her badly at all, you know how dramatic Lydia can be, when she thinks a man treats her differently because she is a girl." 

"I hope you do not truly belief what you are saying right now, Mary. Lydia is your sister and the way Mister Brown has acted when she turned him down has truly frightened her. So much that she even lets the new teacher take over almost all her classes. And you know how much she loves the school. A man like that truly does not deserve any of your affection.", Elizabeth said determined. She would have liked to add that he especially did not deserve any of Mary's tears while she was planning her wedding to a different man, but refrained from it.

And seeing how Mary threw herself back in the pillows and began crying again that certainly was a good decision. Sighing heavily, Elizabeth just quietly stroked Mary's hair until her cries subsided. When clock tolled seven Mary's breathing had softened and she had finally fallen asleep again.

Tiptoeing out of the room Elizabeth closed Mary's door with a heavy heart. Oh, if she had just gone out to the gardens instead!

—

Thank you so much for your lovely reviews and words of encouragement! I had hoped to get this chapter finished before the weekend, but only found the time today. While it may be not that eventful, I found it necessary to give you some more insight into our dear Bennet sisters minds!


	18. Chapter 18

Exactly one week after Tammy had departed from Longbourn and went to London, Lydia received her first letter. To say that she was excited about it would have been an understatement. She was so ecstatic, that she ran up to her room the minute it arrived and completely forgot about her breakfast while reading Tammy's rambles over and over again.

 _Dear Miss Lydia,_

 _As you taught us in class, I will ask you now how you have been and have to tell you how good I have been. Even though my tummy hurts quite a bit from having eaten too many cakes at dinner. I hope all your family is well too._ _  
_ _I am writing this letter at my own writing desk, but it is not my own paper but that of Mrs. Hurst. Well, I am supposed to call her Aunt Louisa, because I already have a Mommy, but I keep forgetting. Anyways, Aunt Louisa's paper is much nicer than any paper I have ever seen! And Uncle Alfred (that her husband) has said we can put a pretty seal on it after I have finished writing and is that not grant?_ _  
_ _This morning I went to the dressmaker with Aunt Louisa. She said that i have to get many new dresses and caps and coats and I do not know what else, but she surely knows a lot more about dresses than I have ever thought there would be to know! I told her that you said being smart is more important than being pretty, but she said it is also very smart to look well dressed. I hope you are not disappointed in me! I promise to still be smart!_ _  
_ _Uncle Alfred has said he will take me horse riding when the weather is better and I think that really sounds like fun! We will also go and visit Mrs. Hurst's, I mean Aunt Louisa's, friends tomorrow and she says they have a daughter just my age. It would be nice to have a friend, but I do not think she will like me very much, as she will be much finer than I am._ _  
_ _I am sleeping a bit better already and I have not had any nightmares since coming to London. I miss you and all of Meryton a lot, but Aunt Louisa says we will go back to Netherfield for Easter if Uncle Charles is still leasing it then. Please tell him to stay, Miss Lydia! I would not like to spend all year in London, even if there are ponies here!_

 _Yours affectionate,_

 _Thomasina Hurst (or Tammy, but that sounds very informal for a letter, Aunt Louisa says)_

Wiping a tear from her cheek Lydia smiled at Tammy's words. Oh, how she missed the darling little girl! With a heavy sigh, she opened the second letter, addressed in Mrs. Hurst's neat and elegant handwriting.

 _Dear Lydia,_

 _I hope this letter finds you and your family in good health. Please excuse our delay in writing, we have been much busier than I anticipated._ _  
_ _Tammy seems to be adjusting very well to life in London and to living with us. She is sleeping better after we changed the curtains in her room, it seems it was much too light in her room at first. I guess that comes with the changes from the countryside to the city and I was happy we could make her feel better so easily._ _  
_ _We have ordered her new wardrobe and she was very sweet about it. I assured her that you would not mind a few pretty dresses, but maybe it would be best if you told her yourself that there is nothing wrong with being well dressed. She so values your opinion!_ _  
_ _We have received many invitations from my friends but I thought it wise to refrain from meeting too many new people at once. Tomorrow we will go and meet my dear friend Mrs. Knightley. Her third oldest, Bella, is just about Tammy's age and I hope they will become good friends._

 _We are planning to come visit the country side by Easter but I hope that you will come and visit us in London before that! Do know that you are always welcome here with us!_

 _Your most affectionate friend and with regards from my husband,_

 _Louisa Hurst_

—

Elizabeth had not been sure how to treat Mary after everything her sister had said about Mister Brown, but she was sure she had to say something, before Mary made herself even more unhappy than she already was.

So when they were in the little salon together, she waited for Mama to leave and then said to her sister: "Mary, I know that we do not see eye to eye in many things, but please know that that does not change how much I love you and how much I want you to be happy. If you do not want to marry Mister Collins, we can still call the wedding off. I am sure Papa would agree to it and Mama would come around eventually." 

"Call the wedding off? Do you really think Mama would survive even the thought of that? No, everyone is invited already. There is no reason to be dramatic. I will marry Mister Collins.", Mary answered with a bitter laugh.

"Of course Mama would be shocked at first, but she would not want to see you unhappy, Mary dear.", Elizabeth tried to reason with her sister.

"I am unhappy as Miss Mary Bennet already and I do not think she minds very much. I do not see why she or any of you for that matter would care if I am unhappy as Mrs. William Collins.", Mary said and turned around to the piano. Before Elizabeth could say anything else, she was banging away on the instrument, filling the small room with furious music.

—

"Oh Lizzy, you did not really think she would call the wedding off, did you? It would be a terrible scandal.", Jane sighed while stroking little Bitsy's hair. The little girl still was not feeling any better but had started to become quite feverish in the night.

"You did not see her the other day, Jane. She was crying so much about that damn Mister Brown. How can she marry Mister Collins while she is clearly in love with Mister Brown? Even if Mister Brown is a terrible man and Mister Collins not the most engaging person that feels just wrong.", Elizabeth sighed and wrung out the cloth they used to keep Bitsy's forehead cold. Putting it back on her nieces hot face she turned around to Jane: "I hope the Doctor hurries up."

"She has never been this sick. I was sure she had just eaten too much, when she threw up yesterday.", Jane said with a worried look: "And now this rash. I just hope Hill was wrong.", piling up another blanket over her shivering daughter, Jane looked at her little girl sadly: "She was so excited to try some of the fresh bread Hill was baking yesterday. And now she does not even want to drink water anymore."

—

"I just hope it is not scarlet fever. Hill said two or three children in the village have come down with it just last week.", Lydia exclaimed while closing her book and looking at the clock: "He is in there much too long already."

Kitty looked at her younger sister in shock: "But she was just throwing up yesterday. It cannot be that bad."

"Lizzy was saying she has quite the bad rash.", Lydia answered, "We will just have to wait and see what the Doctor says."

Before Kitty could say anything else, the door to the salon opened and in came a very pale Mrs. Bennet: "Oh my poor darling Bitsy.", she said and promptly burst into tear.

—

After the doctor's diagnosis, the whole Bennet household was in an uproar.

Hill was busy preparing one of her home remedies, fervently saying prayers over „poor little Miss Bitsy" while scolding the maid for letting the roast for the rest of the family burn.

Kitty had run up to her room crying her eyes out after the Doctor had confirmed their fears of scarlet fever and refused to leave her room. Having been so happy about Bitsy feeling unwell earlier, she almost felt personally responsible for the girl's illness now.

Lydia had gone out to check on all her little charges. Terribly worried that another child would catch the fever she had vowed not to rest until she had visited everyone of her 25 students, she herself had forgotten to wear her warm shawl in the cold winter air and was, 13 students in, feeling a cough coming up her throat.

Elizabeth had started packing almost immediately. Never having contracted scarlet fever herself, she was in as great danger as little Laurie and Chip and it was quickly decided that she would go and live with their Aunt Phillips until Bitsy's fever had subsided.

Jane, who had fainted after the Doctor's diagnosis, was now sitting at her daughter's bed, writing a letter to her husband, begging him to come back to the countryside as soon as work allowed it, while trying not to cry in front of her feverish little girl.

Mister Bennet who had lost his little sister Bess to scarlet fever almost 30 years ago, was so caught up in haunting memories that he could do nothing else than hide in his library, staring out of the window silently.

Mrs. Bennet's tendency to cry for her smelling salts if anything only mildly upset her was known all over Hertfordshire. But what was also known was, that in the face of any real crisis, Mrs. Bennet was the one to call. The otherwise dramatic and nervous mistress of Longbourn was the calm in any storm and after her initial moment of shock, she had recovered fast and well and was now directing the madhouse Longbourn had become. If her husband had been in better spirits he would have remarked that she would have made a rather excellent General in his Majesties Army, much better than that son-in-law of his could have ever been. But alas, Mister Bennet was trapped in dark memories and so there was no one to praise Mrs. Bennet or even realize how much she was holding everything together.

Well, that was until a very shocked maid announced Mister Bingley in the drawing room.

"Mrs. Bennet! I am afraid I am coming at a very inconvenient time!", the fair gentleman exclaimed when seeing the chaos and hearing the wailing loud voices from upstairs.

"Oh Mister Bingley! You know how much our family always enjoys your company but today I am afraid to say that you have. My dear granddaughter has been diagnosed with scarlet fever and we have to send Elizabeth and the children away to their Aunt Phillips, so they do not get infected.", she sighed: "In fact, if you do not have contracted scarlet fever before I urge you to return to Netherfield Park immediately."

"This indeed is an inconvenient time for a visit then, Mrs. Bennet, but do not worry for me. We have all lived through scarlet fever back in Scarborough. It was the flu that later took my dear father's health. But I am so sorry to hear about Mrs. Harrison's daughter! Please tell her my well wishes! Is there any way I can help? I could send for my physician in London, he is quite good.", Mister Bingley said eagerly.

"I will tell Jane. I am sure she will be happy to hear so many people worry for poor Bitsy. We have already send for the physician from London, he will arrive tonight, if the roads are good."

"Then let me help in another form! Maybe I could host Mrs. Harrison's children and Miss Bennet? Netherfield Park has so much more space for the children to run around and I am sure Mrs. Phillips will be happy not to have her house so crowded.", Mister Bingley smiled at Mrs. Bennet so charmingly, that she did not even thought to decline.

Of course she argued a little bit, that was only polite after all. But after just five minutes they had decided rather happily that one could not even think of burdening Mrs. Phillips so much or taking away the joys of running around Netherfield Park from little Laurie. That Netherfield Park was three miles away from Longbourn while Meryton was only one mile further down the road was irrelevant to Mrs. Bennet and Mister Bingley and they did not think that anyone else would mind very much.

And so, not half an hour after Mister Bingley had arrived in Longbourn, his carriage almost toppled over with a worried Elizabeth, two crying children, three pieces of luggage and a suddenly smiling Kitty, whom Mrs. Bennet had decided to send along, so that poor Lizzy had not to care for the children all on her own.

—

When Kitty had heard of Mister Bingley's invitation she had been ecstatic.

If God had made Bitsy get scarlet fever to punish Kitty's glee about her little cough, he surely would not have rewarded her with an invitation to Netherfield Park from Mister Bingley himself! And if he was not angry with her, he would surely not make Bitsy suffer for too long!

But now that she was here at Mister Bingley's dinner table and eating a very exotic looking salad with a very fine piece of salmon and listening to Mister Bingley quiz Lizzy about Jane, she suddenly thought that maybe this was not God's plan after all, but just some cruel twist of fate.

"Miss Catherine, you look terribly pale.", Miss Bingley said suddenly, looking more annoyed than concerned.

Before she could stutter an answer, Mister Bingley interrupted his rambling about doctors in London and on the country side and came to her rescue: "Of course she is, Caroline. Miss Kitty's niece is sick and she is rightly worried about her." Kitty smiled at him. What a wonderful man he was! But then he continued speaking and she really had to fight the urge to run away from the table and hide in her room, "I cannot imagine how poor Mrs. Harrison is feeling. She must be miserable! We should send over a basket of sweets tomorrow to cheer her up. What do you think, Miss Bennet? What would your sister like?"

—

After Elizabeth had seen Laurie and Chip to bed and said good night to a very grumpy Kitty, she had taken up Mister Bingley's offer to read for a bit in the library.

While the many shelves in the grand room where not even fully filled, Netherfield's library was still rather impressing to her and held many more books than she had expected from Mister Bingley. Choosing one of the bard's classics, Elizabeth settled in a comfortable looking armchair. 

Just opposite to her was Mister Bingley and while she had been even more surprised to find him engrossed in a book than to find his library filled with them, she was not surprised to see him drift of to sleep after just twenty minutes.

"He never was a great reader. I remember he once fell asleep in a corner of the Cambridge library only to be awoken again by the clerk next morning.", said Mister Darcy and Elizabeth looked over to the tall man in the corner, searching his face for any reproach of his friends action but only found mirth.

"I did not know you attended university together, Mister Darcy."

"We did not. I am almost six years Bingley's senior, but he attended Cambridge together with my cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam's younger brother Remy. They were quite good friends, even though their topics of interest varied widely.", Mister Darcy smiled and Elizabeth briefly wondered if he remembered his own time at university. And how he might have looked as a a student in one of these black graduating caps Lydia wished for so much.

"How so?", she asked him, silently chastising herself for having such silly thoughts about such a haughty gentleman.

"My cousin has always been very studious. He went to University at sixteen already, eager to study medicine. He is now running a small but always expanding hospital.", Mister Darcy said.

"How interesting! It must be wonderful to have a chance to live out such a heart's desire."

A wave of sadness seemed to come over Mister Darcy but before Elizabeth could further their conversation, Mister Bingley awoke from his slumber and she forgot all about it over his fervent apologies and the then started merry game of cards.

—

Sitting at her daughter's bed Jane Harrison stroked her belly absently. The doctor from London had come bringing the good news that Bitsy's case of scarlet fever did not seem to be any worse than the normal case of this blasted illness and while he did not give her any great reason to celebrate yet he also did not caution her so much that it would have made for a new fit of tears from the very tired mother.

Her husband's letter then, that had arrived with the good doctor, gave more reason to cry. The General, while worried about his only daughter's wellbeing, worried far more for the state of his Majesty's army at the moment and wrote that he could not come to Hertfordshire this week. Of course he would ride to Longbourn if - God forbid - little Bitsy's constitution worsened, but right now he was sure his wonderful Jane would just manage without him quite well.

—

So I got the first bad review for this little story of mine. I wrote a rather lengthy paragraph of why I find it pathetic to judge a story for one line and then realized that it was even more pathetic that I wasted my time responding to such a silly little thing instead of writing a new chapter for all of my other lovely readers! So here it is! I hope you enjoyed reading it and as always, I am always eager to hear your thoughts about this story.


	19. Chapter 19

The beginning of February brought heavy rains, not much sunshine and a terrible cold wind to Hertfordshire. Many of the elderly said it had never been this bad since at least 50 years and the farmers worried about their fields not recovering from the ensuing flood early enough for spring sowing.

But for Mrs. Harrison and all her worrying family, February brought only sunshine. After days of waiting at her little daughter's bed and staying up late, crying about the poor girls temperature not going down, Bitsy had finally recovered from scarlet fever. She was announced well enough to finally move from her sick bed to the sitting room on the 6th of February and she did so with so much good cheer that all the tired adults caring for her were quite startled at first, but then quickly and much relieved joined in her laughter.

—

When Lady Lucas had advised her to push Mary's wedding back, Mrs. Bennet had only laughed into her neighbors face. How could Lady Lucas even think she would consider changing something when she finally almost had another daughter married off?

But now, that Bitsy was recovered and she had only one more week till the wedding, Mrs. Bennet looked back on her laughter and shuddered. What on earth had she been thinking? A week was not even enough to plan a proper engagement party, let alone a wedding! And especially not with a child like Mary, who would need help every step of the way, to not mess this up!

Thus distraught, Mrs. Bennet sunk into her armchair, fluttering her handkerchief and trying to decide if she could call Hill for some refreshments, when her husband came in: "Oh Mrs. Bennet, please tell me these are happy tears? I do not think this household would survive another member almost dying from the rash."

Sitting more upright, looked at him reproachful: "How can you joke about this, when Bitsy has just recovered?"

"Forgive me, dear. By God, you know how relieved I am to find our little darling girl in good health again.", Mr. Bennet sighed and sat down opposite to his wife: "But what is troubling you now? Should we not be happy and rejoice in her good health?"

"Oh of course I am happy! Deliriously so! But we have to delay Mary's wedding and it is giving me a terrible headache!", Mrs. Bennet exclaimed.

"Why would we delay Mary's wedding? Has she finally gotten second thoughts about her stupid fiance? If she has, I would say we grab this golden opportunity and call the wedding off completely. I am sure Collins would come around eventually.", the older man smirked almost boyishly.

"Do not be ridiculous, Mr. Bennet. She does not have second thoughts.", Mrs. Bennet shook her head vehemently.

"Why would we need to delay the wedding then?", Mr. Bennet asked in confusion.

"Because there is nothing planned! And Lady Lucas will never stop talking about it, if the wedding breakfast lacks anything. I have a reputation to uphold! Jane's wedding was so beautiful! Do you remember how pretty she looked?"

"I am afraid to tell you this, but I do not think Mary could rival Jane's look, no matter how many weeks you delayed the wedding.", Mister Bennet chuckled: "And if it is only the preparation that worries you, I am sure we can manage. That damned husband of Jane's has to be good for something, has he not? I am sure we can get everything shipped in from London just fine."

"Do you really think so?", Mrs. Bennet asked her husband, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Of course I think so. If anyone could pull a wedding off in one week, it is certainly you, dear Frances."

—

God had forgotten her, Kitty was sure about it. And if he had not, he was strangely fascinated with messing up her life.

When she had heard that Bitsy was recovered, Kitty had rejoiced in happiness. For all her fascination with Mister Bingley, she still cared about her family more than anything and fearing for the little girl had made her completely miserable. She had at least dropped four pounds with fretting about her. We do

But now that Bitsy was healthy and there was no point in worrying about her, she began worrying for Mister Bingley's affection again. And there certainly was much to worry about, as he had not once declared any special regard for her while she had stayed at Netherfield. He had been nice of course. A good host. Jovial and always up for some entertainment, but he did not seem to care if that entertainment came from playing chess with his friend Darcy, singing to Lizzy's piano playing, joking with Laurie or talking with her.

And then there was the marked attention he paid to Jane. Of course she had it difficult with Bitsy being sick and her husband being away at work, but was that any reason to send her fruit baskets from London practically every second day? Especially in this winter cold, Kitty shuddered to think what amounts of money Mister Bingley had probably spend on them.

But of course he was much wealthier than any of them and had more money than he could spend on himself. And it certainly showed that he was a kind and caring gentleman and friend! And he was so good with children!

Maybe he only needed some more time to propose.

Maybe it was a good sign that he had not said anything while she was staying under his roof. After all that would have been very ungentlemanly. So maybe it was good that she went home now as unattached as she had been before. Surely Mary's wedding would get him thinking in the right direction again.

—

"Miss Bennet, I am not that good with children, but I thought Miss Bitsy may enjoy this book of fables?", Elizabeth looked up in surprise. Mister Darcy and her had been reading in comfortable silence in the library, but now he was suddenly standing in front of her, holding a small book.

"That is a very kind idea, Mister Darcy. She always loves to hear new stories, thank you.", she said and took the book with a smile. Opening it she found a name written on the first page. F. Darcy was standing there, in clear and round letters only a very diligent little child would write.

"Oh Mister Darcy! I cannot take it if it is one of your one books. Shouldn't you gift it to your sister? I am sure she would love to read it to her little one when it is old enough.", Elizabeth exclaimed.

"I do not think she would, Miss Bennet.", he said with an absent look on his face and then, before Elizabeth could decide on what to say to this, he suddenly left the room, closing the door behind him almost forcefully.

—

On Tuesday, the whole family had settled in at home again and preparations for Mary's wedding where in full swing.

Mister Bennet had been right. They had been able to outsource some of the tasks to London and with all of their daughters at home, there was truly nothing that could not be finished. Especially as Mary was not the most demanding of brides and spend most of her days reading her bible and not really caring what her mother decided about the flowers or how her dress looked.

To some unknowing onlooker she would have seemed like the most relaxed bride, but to her family it was clear that Mary was everything but relaxed and it was slowly but surely grating on everyones nerves.

When she had still not tried on her dress on Friday and was instead complaining that there was not enough time for a proper service on Sunday with all the hype about the wedding breakfast, her youngest sister finally had enough.

"Oh stop fussing now, Mary. One would think you are preparing to go to a monastery and not get married. You do realize that a wedding is supposed to be fun? By god, you will not be having much of it after you married Mister Collins. Try to enjoy the circus now at least. You know how important it is to Mama.", Lydia exclaimed angrily.

"A wedding is not supposed to be fun. It is supposed to enter two people into", Mary started to say sulkily, but was interrupted by Lydia again: "Oh, cut it. We both know that you are going against God's commandments anyways. What did Titus say again about loving your husband?"

"What do you know about love? You are just a spoilt child, running around the country side, trying to start some stupid revolution and not even realizing how much trouble you are for everyone!", Mary retorted with fury. That Lydia of all people would try telling her something about love!

"I am spoilt? Well, at least I am not marrying someone just to spite a man that has never even cared an ounce for me.", Lydia spit back and banged the door to her room almost into Mary's face.

Left alone in the corridor, Mary stayed looking at the dark door for a few minutes. Stupid Lydia! If she had not been trapping around that schoolhouse, Mary would have never found herself in this situation. Mister Brown would have surely realized how much better Mary was for him, if it had not been for her more prettier sister!

—

Lydia could not sleep. Wrapped in her blanket, she was standing at her open window and breathing in the cold night air. It had finally stopped raining and the sky had cleared up, stars twinkling above.

Of course Mary was confused. One might even call her crazy, after all she was marrying one of the silliest men Lydia had ever met! And Lydia did not give much for Mary's opinion even if she was not in lovesick disarray. But Mary's words, uttered in anger and without much thought, had hit Lydia with full speed.

Since Papa had hired Miss Jennings for the school, she almost felt like her help was not needed anymore. Of course the children still loved her and she still loved them, but she did just not love coming to school anymore. It had lost some of its initial excitement.

And Mister Brown was still behaving so strangely. Lydia would have never admitted it to anyone, but sometimes she almost felt afraid of him. And sometimes, just sometimes though, she woke up at night, sweating and crying and with vivid memories of his terrible proposal. Of course that was stupid and utterly silly, after all he had not really hurt her. But somehow she could not really help it.

—

The good weather stayed on and Sunday morning, the sun shone bright through Mary's window, waking her up even earlier than usual.

Looking over at the dress hanging against her door, she was surprised to find herself smiling. Not a forceful smile like the one she had bestowed on her fiance after he had arrived in Hertfordshire yesterday, but a genuine one.

Her dress was nothing extravagant like Jane's had been. But it was the prettiest pale green color that would look great against her complexion and emphasize her eyes and if there was one day a girl was allowed to be vain, it certainly was her wedding day.

Now, she only had to make sure that none of her sisters spoilt her big day after all.

—

The church in Meryton was full to the brim, when Mary Bennet became Mrs. Collins. Maybe because it was the first pretty morning after so many days of rain, maybe because nobody had truly believed that Mary would be the next Bennet sister to marry, maybe because everyone wanted to get a slice of the cake from London at the wedding breakfast afterwards.

Whatever the reason, the guests came and enjoyed themselves immensely.

While nobody found Mary pretty, they all agreed that she looked charming. While her husband was not the most charismatic one, he certainly knew how to talk a lot and while Mrs. Bennet would never stop talking about the fact that she had pulled a wedding off in just a weeks time, they all had to agree that it was nothing anyone would stop talking about. Not when there had been such lavish flowers and such fancy food!

—

Mister Darcy had been standing just two meters from Elizabeth at the window for over ten minutes, when he finally turned around and addressed her: "Miss Bennet, it seems that I have to apologize to you. I should not have left our conversation so rudely. I did not mean to."

"I did not think you meant to.", she answered and when he did not say anything else but just kept standing there she added:"Bitsy and I have read one of the fables yesterday. I am not sure how much she understood, but she loved the pictures."

"They are really good. My mother would copy them for me and I would hang them up all over my room, when I was younger.", Mister Darcy said with a chuckle and Elizabeth thought that he looked much too attractive for such a strange gentleman when he was smiling.

—

"I was so happy to see you with your daughter at church today, Mrs. Harrison. I trust Miss Bitsy is recovering well?"

"She is, Mister Bingley. I have just put her down for a nap now, all the excitement was a bit too much so early in. But we are all so happy she is back to health now, so that we can finally return home."

"You are planning on returning to London already?", Mister Bingley asked and if Jane had thought any more about him than she did, she would have noticed how startled he was.

But she did not and only said with a smile: "Of course we are. We stayed much longer at Longbourn than we had planned. The children long for their own rooms again."

"But do you think traveling now would be wise? All the roads must be in a terrible condition."

"You are too kind to worry so much about my Bitsy. But there is no reason to, my husband has travelled here from London just yesterday and he was fully satisfied with the roads. Have you been introduced to him properly already? I am sure he would be a much more interesting conversation partner than I have been, Mister Bingley."

And so, Mister Bingley was introduced to General Harrison and spent all of the remaining wedding listening to the gentleman's opinion on the roads from London to Meryton in particular and how the English roadkeeping affected the war supplies in general instead of conversing with the General's certainly much more interesting and particularly more lovely wife.

—

I just feel terrible for the long time I have deserted this story! I wanted to update it again much earlier than this, but life got in the way and I was much too busy and not nearly patient enough to properly sit down and write something that could do this story justice.  
I hope you will forgive me and enjoy reading this new chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! What do you think about these new developments? Do you think Mary can be happy as Mrs. Collins? Hopefully nobody is turned off too much by the fact that there is not as much Darcy/Lizzy interaction in my little story as there is in other fanfics. I just love to explore where live takes all the different Bennet sisters, but if it gets too confusing you have to tell me!


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